NVIDIA's RTX 5070 graphics card might not be launching in February 2025 after all. The new rumor arrives just days before what used to be the expected mid-to-late February release date that NVIDIA officially acknowledged. The supposed delay would be another mark alongside an unsavory RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 launch full of scalpers, high prices, and driver issues.
First spotted by Videocardz, the rumor was sparked by X (formerly Twitter) user MEGAsizeGPU who is known to be fairly accurate with their predictions. Posted on February 11, it states that the RTX 5070 won't be arriving in February; instead, NVIDIA is aiming for an early March release. As with all rumors, it's best not to take it at face value until NVIDIA makes an official statement.
The RTX5070 will be delayed. Instead of February, it will be on the shelf in early March.February 12, 2025
There's not yet any official news from NVIDIA to back up MEGAsizeGPU's claim, but goings-on behind the scenes at NVIDIA regarding RTX 5000 cards point to the delay actually playing out as predicted.
Two weeks ago, Videocardz reported on embargo information regarding the RTX 5070 Ti. While the GPU was originally intended to launch on February 14, it was delayed assumedly to better prepare retailers for high demand. The last thing NVIDIA wants is another "paper launch" on its hands where its GPUs are nearly impossible to buy.
👉 Where to buy RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs
The delay has moved the RTX 5070 Ti's launch to February 20, with the review embargo lifting a day earlier. Suspiciously absent from NVIDIA's embargo dates is the standard RTX 5070 without the "Ti" stamp.
Considering we're only about a week away from the 5070 Ti's review embargo and launch, I expect NVIDIA will provide us with more information regarding the RTX 5070 non-Ti model sooner rather than later.
Is the RTX 5070 now waiting for AMD's Radeon RX 9000 GPUs?
As I've covered over the past few weeks, AMD delayed its Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 GPU launch until "early March." The news comes from AMD CEO Lisa Su in AMD's Q4 2024 earnings call and is backed up by AMD VP and GM of Ryzen and Radeon David McAfee.
Radeon 9000 series hardware and software are looking great and we are planning to have a wide assortment of cards available globally. Can’t wait for gamers to get their hands on the cards when they go on sale in March!January 20, 2025
Why the company pushed its GPUs back isn't entirely clear. AMD originally planned to reveal its new RDNA 4 hardware on stage at CES 2025, but backed off at the last minute due to what it claims were time constraints.
As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, AMD's RDNA 4 waiting game is likely to pay off as long as it navigates the situation properly. NVIDIA GPUs aren't exactly plentiful right now, and AMD can take full advantage with competitive pricing. RDNA 4 might represent a more serious breakthrough than I'm imagining, which will leave early RTX 5000 adopters a bit jaded, but it also might simply be a cheaper way to get similar performance to what NVIDIA can offer from its mid-range cards.
Looking at the latest rumor about an RTX 5070 delay, AMD's waiting game might have rubbed off on NVIDIA. Is Team Green now pausing to see what RDNA 4 has to offer before revealing launch details for its RTX 5070? It's possible, but NVIDIA might also have delayed the card in order to build up more stock at retailers rather than any sort of pushback against AMD.
Considering the RTX 5070 has a $549 MSRP, it's bound to be far more popular than its RTX 5070 Ti ($749), RTX 5080 ($999), and RTX 5090 ($1,999) counterparts. And considering how sparse RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 stock is expected to be for weeks (or months) to come, NVIDIA might be waiting until it's better prepared to meet the demand.
I'm still undecided on AMD or NVIDIA for my next GPU
Coming out of NVIDIA's CES 2025 keynote speech, promises of RTX 4090 performance from the RTX 5070 had me salivating over the upcoming $549 GPU. However, the elation fell flat as more information came out about NVIDIA and AMD's new hardware.
AMD's FidelityFX Super Resolution 4 (FSR 4) arriving with RDNA 4 GPUs looks quite impressive now that it uses machine learning (just like NVIDIA DLSS), which should fix one of my main gripes about my current Radeon GPU and FSR 3.1.
NVIDIA's DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation is also incredibly impressive even if there's pushback against "fake frames" created by AI-powered upscaling in place of "real frames" created by raw hardware. If I see framerates go up without adding issues, I'm happy. Let's leave it at that.
The only thing I can do now is wait for NVIDIA and AMD to quit chasing each other around the delay button and actually reveal all the information needed to make the right decision.
