Following on from its triumph with the Radeon RX 9070 XT, AMD has entered Computex with all guns blazing for its latest GPU launch. The new AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB will apparently cost just $349, a massive $70 less than the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16GB. Not only that, but AMD says the 8GB version will match the price of the new RTX 5060. There's just one problem with these prices – I don't believe them.
I was blown away by the last best graphics card in its league, putting the $549 RTX 5070 to shame.
Fast forward to now, though, and the cheapest 9070 XT card you can find in stock on Amazon costs $844.94 – at its cheapest, you can occasionally get a PowerColor card exclusively for Prime for $799.99, if you can find it in stock. Now, AMD isn't alone here, of course – it's hard to get Nvidia GPUs at MSRP in the US as well. However, you can currently pick up an RTX 5070 for $604.99 – just $55 above the MSRP.
Meanwhile, the UK GPU market, where stock is more readily available, paints a damning picture of AMD's current GPU prices. On UK retailer Overclockers, for example, there are loads of 9070 XT cards in stock, but the cheapest one costs £659.99 – nearly £100 higher than the MSRP, and most of them are considerably more expensive.
Meanwhile, you can pick up an RTX 5070 card from the same retailer for £499.99, which is even cheaper than the original £529 launch price. At MSRP, the 9070 XT is the obvious choice, but at real-world prices, the RTX 5070 offers considerably better value, even if it doesn't have as much VRAM.
Basically, once you have enough stock to go round, it looks as though Nvidia's MSRPs have a much closer relationship with reality than the ones from AMD. It's not much better for the Radeon RX 9070, which should cost £529.99 in the UK, but actually costs at least £569.99. Meanwhile, this ostensibly $549 card costs $699.99 in the US, if you're lucky enough to find the exclusive PowerColor cards for Prime in stock. If not, you're looking at even higher prices.
All of which prompts some big questions about the Radeon RX 9060 XT launch. If the 16GB card really, genuinely costs $349, then AMD will have a slam dunk on its hands. If in the real world it costs $499, then it's going to struggle to compete with the RTX 5060 Ti. AMD can't just pluck a price out of its butt to give to reviewers if it knows full well that the actual prices will be considerably higher.
I'll be watching the prices of these AMD GPUs very closely once they're for sale, just as I'm watching the Radeon RX 9070-series prices. Speaking of which, at current prices, I don't advise buying a Radeon RX 9070 anymore. If you're looking for a mid-range GPU, buy the RTX 5070 or the RTX 5060 TI 16GB, both of which offer better value at real-world prices.
It's great to see strong competition back in the gaming GPU market, of course, but competition doesn't work if the prices are theoretical. If AMD wants to properly take the fight to Nvidia, it needs to ensure its MSRPs bear at least some resemblance to the prices in real stores.
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