AMD Delays RDNA 4 GPU Launch to March 2025, Citing Software and FSR 4 Readiness

AMD says RDNA 4 delay is due to software and FSR 4, confirms stock is already at retailers

AMD announced its next-gen desktop graphics card lineup at CES 2025, with the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT expected to launch in March 2025. Later than expected, AMD's GPUs will launch after its direct competition - the new GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti from NVIDIA - launches sometime in February. We saw several Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs in person at CES 2025, like this model from ASRock. The whole RDNA 4 reveal has been confusing because several Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs were on display at CES; however, details on specs, performance, potential pricing, and other features are being kept under wraps. AMD will present all of this information at an upcoming RDNA 4 reveal event; however, as of writing, there's no indication of when that might be. AMD's David McAfee, who heads up the company's Ryzen and Radeon groups, recently confirmed the March 2025 Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT launch on social media. In a follow-up post, he confirmed that AMD delayed RDNA 4's launch due to software (see: drivers) and FSR 4 not being ready. By confirming that stock for the Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 XT is already at retailers worldwide, he all but confirms that the decision to delay the launch and reveal was very much a last-minute thing. Speculation and rumor have also pointed to NVIDIA's lower-than-expected price points for the GeForce RTX 5070 and RTX 5070 Ti being a contributing factor, alongside the arrival of DLSS 4 for GeForce RTX gamers. DLSS 4's updated 'Transformer' model for DLSS Super Resolution is causing quite a stir because it notably improves image quality compared to DLSS 2 and 3. The improvement is so significant that it makes AMD's current FSR 3.1 Super Resolution technology look inferior and utterly obsolete. The good news is that with FSR 4, the company is finally switching to an AI-based form of upscaling - and after seeing an early version of FSR 4 in action at CES 2025, we were impressed with the results. A significant improvement for FSR, however, image quality is a step or two behind NVIDIA's latest DLSS 4 update. The good news is that FSR 4 will be compatible with all games with the latest FSR 3.1 implementation; however, it will be exclusive to the new Radeon RX 9070 and 9070 X RDNA 4 GPUs as it requires more advanced AI hardware. With the GeForce RTX 5090's launch showing a decent but not mind-blowing raw performance improvement over the GeForce RTX 4090, NVIDIA's new DLSS 4 (with the new Transformer model and Multi Frame Generation) and RTX Neural Rendering technologies have proven to be the 'wow' factor for the GeForce RTX 50 Series. This makes AMD's decision to delay RDNA 4's launch to ensure FSR 4 is ready on day one smart. Most PC gamers enable technologies like DLSS, FSR, and XSS to get a 'free performance boost' when gaming, so not having a viable alternative for Radeon on day one would be a mistake.

AMD FSR 4 games list, titles that will work day one on the Radeon RX 9070 XT

TL;DR: AMD's RDNA 4 GPUs, including the Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT, are set for a March 2025 release. FSR 4, using new AI upscaling, will debut exclusively with these GPUs, enhancing image quality. FSR 4 will be available in 51 games at launch - including Marvel Rivals and Call of Duty. AMD's RDNA 4 desktop gaming GPUs, led by the Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT combo, are on track for a March 2025 launch. Although specs, performance, and pricing are still TBC, one of the highlights from the CES announcement was that FSR 4 is on the way. FSR 4 is coming to 51 games on day one. The latest version of AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution is switching to a new AI method for upscaling, and it will be exclusive (at launch) for the new RDNA 4 generation. This is because it has been designed for RDNA 4's new "super-charged" AI hardware. The goal is to improve image quality and fidelity, bringing it closer to NVIDIA DLSS and Intel XeSS, which already use AI for their Super Resolution implementations. For those who paid close attention to AMD's slide on FSR 4, it featured a footnote that confirmed that every game with FSR 3.1 integrated - will support FSR 4 on day one. According to industry insider @Kepler_L2 over on X, we could be looking at a similar situation to NVIDIA's new DLSS Override features for DLSS 4 - where enabling the latest tech is as easy as checking a box in the NVIDIA App. That's 51 games on day one. @Kepler_L2 also confirms that FSR 4 will not work with FSR 3 games because FSR 3.1 and the new FSR 4 have been designed to make upgrading as easy as possible. It is so easy that it doesn't require additional work from the developer, so for games without native FSR 4 support, it'll probably become a toggle in AMD's HYPR-RX features, which are part of its Adrenalin Software for Radeon graphics cards. This is excellent news because RDNA 4 gamers will be able to enable FSRF 4 in up to 52 games on day one - making FSR 4 the most supported FSR to date. Here are the FSR 3.1 games that will support FSR 4 for the new Radeon RX 9070 and Radeon RX 9070 XT GPUs on day one. It's a stacked list of games, so it makes sense that AMD would want to ensure FSR 4 is in a great spot before launching its first batch of RDNA 4 GPUs. According to recent comments from AMD, FSR 4 readiness is one of the reasons the launch was pushed back from January 2025 to March 2025. And with DLSS 4 introducing a significant image quality upgrade for all GeForce RTX gamers, FSR 4 is something Team Red will need on day one.