AMD Radeon RX 970 & 970 XT Announced: Can AMD Finally Deliver?
AMD Radeon After weeks of speculation and leaks, AMD has officially announced the Radeon RX 970 and RX 970 XT—and the excitement is real. With a new RDNA 4 architecture, better ray tracing, and AI-powered upscaling, AMD might finally have a chance to compete with NVIDIA in the GPU market.
But the real question is: Did AMD get it right this time? Or are we looking at another disappointing launch? Let’s break it all down.
AMD’s RDNA 4 Architecture: A Game-Changer?
RDNA 4 has been rumored for months, and now that it’s officially here, AMD is promising huge performance gains over RDNA 3.
Key Features:
✅ New monolithic die design (no more chiplets)
✅ Third-gen ray tracing accelerators
✅ Second-gen AI accelerators for FSR 4 upscaling
✅ 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM on a 256-bit bus
✅ Enhanced media engine for better streaming
✅ Priced at $599 (RX 970 XT) and $549 (RX 970)
For the first time in years, AMD seems to be seriously competing with NVIDIA’s RTX lineup.
But the biggest surprise? They’ve supposedly been stockpiling these GPUs for months, meaning supply might actually be good.
Performance & Ray Tracing: Closing the Gap with NVIDIA?
AMD is claiming a 40% increase in performance per clock compared to RDNA 3.
Ray Tracing Improvements:
- New Ray Intersection Engine → Doubles ray-triangle and ray-box throughput.
- Dedicated Ray Transformation Hardware → Faster calculations for complex scenes.
- “Oriented Bounding Boxes” Accelerator → Improves efficiency in ray tracing workloads.
💡 What does this mean?
Even if AMD doesn’t fully catch NVIDIA, these upgrades should make ray tracing actually usable on Radeon GPUs.
AI Acceleration: Hype or Real Deal?
AMD is leaning into AI with dedicated AI accelerators in RDNA 4.
🔹 2x performance in FP16 tasks
🔹 4x performance in INT8 calculations
What does this actually do?
- Powers FSR 4 upscaling → AMD’s answer to NVIDIA’s DLSS
- New “Image Inspector” AI feature → Detects image corruption in real-time
- AMD Chat (AI Assistant) → Helps optimize GPU settings
💡 Real-world impact?
- FSR 4 could make lower resolutions look much better.
- AI-driven optimizations might improve performance without manual tweaking.
Media Engine Upgrades: Finally, Good Streaming?
AMD’s encoding has been inferior to NVIDIA’s NVENC—but that might change with RDNA 4.
🔹 8K 80FPS encode/decode support for AV1, H.265, and H.264
🔹 No session limit (unlike NVIDIA’s Pro-tier cards)
🔹 Better color accuracy and quality for Twitch/YouTube streaming
💡 If these upgrades hold up, AMD cards might finally be viable for content creators.
RX 970 vs. RX 970 XT: Is AMD Repeating Past Mistakes?
While both GPUs share the same 16GB of VRAM on a 256-bit bus, the RX 970 XT is significantly better for just $50 more.
| Feature | RX 970 XT | RX 970 |
| Compute Units (CUs) | 72 | 64 |
| RT Accelerators | 72 | 64 |
| AI Accelerators | 128 | 112 |
| Clock Speed | ~3 GHz | Lower |
| Power Draw | +84W | Lower |
💡 Issue:
- The RX 970 XT seems like the way better deal, just like the 7900 XT vs. XTX situation.
- If the 970 isn’t discounted, it might flop at launch due to poor value.
👉 AMD, drop the RX 970 to $499. Do it. Do it now.
Display & PCIe Features: Future-Proofed?
Both GPUs feature:
✅ PCIe Gen 5 (but real-world impact is minimal)
✅ HDMI 2.1b + DisplayPort 2.1a
✅ Support for 4K 240Hz with DSC
💡 However, AMD’s DP 2.1a bandwidth is lower (54 Gbps vs. NVIDIA’s 80 Gbps)—but this won’t matter for most gamers.
FSR 4 & Hyper RX: AI-Powered Upscaling is Here
AMD’s FSR 4 is its first true AI-powered upscaler, competing with DLSS 3 and Intel’s XeSS.
🔹 30+ launch titles
🔹 75+ more games coming in 2025
💡 The issue? FSR adoption has always been slower than DLSS, so support might be limited at first.
Meanwhile, Hyper RX (one-click performance boost) is expanding to 1,000+ games, adding:
✅ Anti-Lag Boost
✅ FSR 4
✅ Fluid Motion Frames 2.1
🎮 If you want smooth gameplay without tweaking settings, this could be a big win.
Availability: Will You Actually Be Able to Buy One?
🛑 Stock issues have ruined past GPU launches.
🛑 NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series cards are nearly impossible to find.
💡 BUT—AMD has reportedly been stockpiling these GPUs for months.
- We saw retail samples at CES in January.
- March 6, 2025, launch date is confirmed.
🔹 If AMD delivers good stock, this could be their best GPU launch in years.
Final Verdict: Should You Buy the RX 970 or 970 XT?
✅ Buy IF:
✔ You want great performance at $599 (RX 970 XT is solid value).
✔ You need 16GB VRAM for 1440p+ gaming.
✔ You care about better ray tracing & AI upscaling.
✔ You want improved streaming quality.
🚫 Don’t Buy IF:
❌ You’re waiting for NVIDIA’s next RTX 50 series cards.
❌ You need top-tier ray tracing (NVIDIA still has the edge).
❌ You’re unsure about FSR 4’s early game support.
💡 Final Thought:
The RX 970 XT looks like a great deal at $599, but AMD needs to drop the RX 970 to $499 to avoid another pricing mistake.
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