AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE review: Shrinkflation isn’t just for groceries anymore

The superior RX 9070 also launched for $549 just over a year ago.

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[Adapheon]

I bit the bullet and bought an OC'd 9070 XT on sale for roughly 12% more than 9070 XT MSRP. Just figured with how tech prices are going that by the time I absolutely had to replace my 6750 that I'd be selling a kidney or something to do so. Seems like maybe I'd be still selling my kidney but getting garbage in return.

The price to performance ratio is crazily tilted these days though. While the new card I got obviously trounces the old card (running 3440x1440), it was also about double the price out of pocket, and frankly I was expecting to be more "wowed" by it than I am. Some of that is probably I've been deep into the new D4 expansion and while I didn't have performance issues in any other game I tried (including multiple hours in Crimson Desert and CP2077), D4 is rough on my machine.

 

[stillanalog]

It just makes no sense to buy any PC hardware until the AI-bubble pops unless you absolutely must, like e.g. if your GPU breaks. Alas, there's no saying how long they can keep bubble going, so it could still be several years of waiting...

The AI boom is clearly responsible for the current hike in GPU prices, and I agree it is a bubble that will pop eventually.

But it seems to me like the last decade or so has gone from one GPU market disruption to the next. Between crypto mining boom, the COVID pandemic and now the AI craze it feels like GPUs have been going for above MSRP more often than not.

 

[Frank C.]

Instead of a technical review, you should have continued down the angering path of shrinkflation and the corporate race to the bottom. What we see here is not the end of this practice of getting less for the same, or possibly more money. Keep boosting those quarterly numbers guys, into and beyond infinity*

*obviously continued growth is something physically impossible but these guys refuse to understand the constraints of this rock we live on

Absolutely. We can't fix the effect without first fixing the cause.

 

[TheJBW]

GRE stands for "Graphics Reduced Edition", apparently.

 

[Cat_Herder]

I find AMD's "GRE" label more confusing than helpful. "Extra letters" usually means "better," across both AMD and Nvidia's GPU lineups (see XT, Ti, XTX, Super, etc), but in this case, it means "worse."

GRE = Greatly Reduced Enthusiasm

 

[macosandlinux]

Problem is the price. The product as designed makes sense as an upgrade from something like a 6700XT, but the price is about $100 too high.

Not if the shoe drops and the RX 9070 gets a juicy price hike. Then you got price differentiation again. Sad to see the personal computer market in such a bad state.

 

[Jerion]

Should have cut the launch price by 50, maybe 80 bucks, left the clocks a little lower to save on power draw, and slotted it into the market as a very likeable step-up midrange offering. The 90-series cards have been great choices in every bracket so far.

It’s probably quite tough to make a reliable profit on these cards as it is with memory prices being what they are, but the surface level narrative of “pay the same, get less for it” is a heck of an own-goal. Seems to be par for the course with Radeon these days.