A new leak shows clear images of what could’ve been one of AMD’s best graphics cards — the reference version of the RX 9070 XT. AMD said that it didn’t make its own version, also known as Made By AMD (MBA), which is why it’s such a surprise to see one such card in the flesh. I’m not sure if this is a real GPU, but if it is, I know that I wish it made it to market.
The leaked photos surfaced on Bilibili earlier this morning. They show what appears to be an RX 9070 XT GPU, in a full-black shroud, in a sealed bag. It sports three fans, but little else can be gathered from these images.
The card was actually listed for sale in China, and, considering that the listing is gone now, chances are that it was sold at MSRP. The seller offered one-year warranty and promised that the card had no damage. Needless to say, such a sale would not have been legal.
The RX 9070 XT GPU, if it’s real, was likely given out to AMD’s brand partners prior to the launch of the RX 9070 XT/non-XT. Whoever got their hands on this card ended up keeping it and selling it, but as this MBA design was never officially released, so it shouldn’t be sold.
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A few details are made pretty clear, including the serial code, which will undoubtedly make it simple for AMD to track down the seller — but that’s assuming the card is even real, which we don’t know for a fact. It certainly looks real, but you never know with these things.
These images have me wishing AMD did make its own MBA cards, though. Those cards would sell at the recommended price and wouldn’t fall victim to the price hikes that the partner-made RX 9070s are soon said to be suffering from. Some RX 9070 XT GPUs sell for a lot more than the MSRP, and if AMD had its own design out there, it’d be a huge win for gamers who don’t want to spend more than $600 on a new GPU.
