AMD is reportedly prioritising RX 9070 XT production over standard 9070

AMD is reportedly recalibrating its RDNA 4 production strategy amid the ongoing global memory shortage, which continues to squeeze hardware margins. Although the Radeon RX 9070 series is a success, recent reports suggest that AMD is now winding down production of the standard Radeon RX 9070 to prioritise the more expensive RX 9070 XT. This shift is a direct response to skyrocketing VRAM prices, which have made lower-margin graphics cards increasingly impractical to manufacture.

According to ProHardver (via VideoCardz), because both the RX 9070 and its XT variant use 16GB of GDDR6 memory, the cost of the raw materials for both cards is virtually identical. However, the RX 9070 XT carries a higher retail price, allowing it to better absorb the rising cost of memory chips without requiring drastic price adjustments.

At launch, the RX 9070 was intended to provide a more affordable entry point into high-performance 1440p gaming, priced just £55/$50 below the XT variant. In the current economic climate, where memory producers are prioritising AI data centres over consumer electronics, that narrow price gap has been swallowed up by rising bill-of-materials costs. While AMD does not plan to halt production of the non-XT version completely, the share of this model in total shipments is expected to decrease significantly throughout the first half of the year. This strategy mirrors recent reports from Nvidia, which has also been rumoured to cut shipments to board partners by up to 20% as it navigates the same issues.

For PC builders, this reallocation of resources means that the Radeon RX 9070 XT will remain the primary focus for AMD's board partners for the foreseeable future. Industry analysts suggest that this tricky math for manufacturers will persist until at least 2027, making high-VRAM, mid-range cards like the RX 9070 a rare sight on retail shelves as companies prioritise SKUs that offer the best return on every gigabyte of memory.

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KitGuru says: By focusing on the RX 9070 XT, AMD can at least ensure that some high-performance RDNA 4 stock remains available, even if it means the more affordable non-XT version becomes a “ghost” GPU.

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