Let's be real – the RX 9070 XT isn't remotely an RTX 5090 rival, but AMD is allegedly working on a model with 32GB VRAM. That's right. The red team is potentially pairing a mid-range GPU with the same memory as Nvidia's $2,000 flagship graphics card, and I can't be the only one who finds that a little weird.
Perhaps AMD is warming up to taking on the RTX 5090 in the best graphics card ring. Or, maybe it's simply responding to the groans of PC players who think expensive GPUs should boast even more VRAM than last generation. Reasoning aside, leaks shared at Chiphell claim a 32GB RX 9070 could arrive this year (via Videocardz). The variant is still apparently "under discussion" but we could see it as soon as Q2 if specs are finalized.
My first thought was that there's no way this is a gaming SKU, but the leaker says the model should be a "gaming" card, hence the 9070 XT branding. That said, the insider contradicts themselves by saying the GPU is also "mainly for AI," which in turn means the price will be much higher than the confirmed vanilla variant.
More memory for the mid-range GPU masses, but at what cost?
The idea of a mid-range GPU like the RX 9070 XT with 32GB VRAM is a bit of a head-scratcher. It almost feels like AMD is taunting Nvidia off the back of its GeForce RTX 5080 release since it sticks with 16GB. That's likely nothing to do with the allegedly planned SKU, and it's likely another case of trying to get gaming graphics cards to pull off extra curriculum AI tricks instead.
I'm maybe calling this a little early, but I don't think you should wait for the RX 9070 XT with 32GB VRAM if it does come to be. For starters, I can't even begin to imagine what that configuration would look like since the 70-class cards should use GDDR6 instead, in turn meaning it'd have to go with 2GB chips. Some quick maths suggests the card would theoretically have to pack 16 modules into its design, which could mean we end up with a pretty chonky card.
Just to reiterate, we're talking about a mid-range graphics card here that'll provide a similar punch to the Radeon RX 7800 XT. While more memory will help increase your odds of running new games at higher resolutions in the future, it can't help RDNA 4 GPUs like the Navi 48 XT boost fps beyond their natural capabilities. I've already encountered situations like this while testing the GeForce RTX 4060 Ti and its 16GB sibling, as doubling VRAM did very little to boost fps.
As always, I'd keep your faithful salt shaker handy when ingesting any RX 9070 32GB rumors. I'm not completely writing off the model's existence or the idea that discussions are taking place at AMD, but it feels like the sort of idea that'll never escape the drawing board.
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