The eagerly awaited NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition GPU was all set to hit the shelves tomorrow, but gamers will have to wait a bit longer. The official launch has been pushed back to late March. This news might come as a surprise to many, especially since the reviews are already out.
It seems that NVIDIA has decided to delay the release of the RTX 5070 FE, as reported by Andreas Schilling, who received an email from NVIDIA about this last-minute change. Originally, the plan was to kick off sales the day after the reviews were published, but that’s no longer the case.
Andreas Schilling, from Hardware Luxx, broke the news. He was informed only a few hours before the reviews went live, which means eager buyers will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on the Founders Edition. It remains unclear if this delay will also impact the launch of the partner cards (AIB editions), but given recent reports surrounding the availability of this GPU, widespread accessibility could be an issue.
In a tweet, Schilling shared the update from NVIDIA: “The RTX 5070 Founders Edition will be available later in March.” This delay could potentially mirror the situation faced with the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and the RTX 5070 Ti, hinting at another paper launch scenario.
Despite these delays, reviews for the GeForce RTX 5070 have been rolling out, showing it performs on par with the RTX 4070 Super. While it may not deliver massive generational leaps, its performance improvement over the RTX 4070 Super at a price of $549 still seems attractive.
If you’re considering a purchase but can’t find the RTX 5070 at the market suggested retail price, you might want to hold out for AMD’s offerings. The Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070, priced at $599 and $549, respectively, are coming soon. Reviews for these GPUs are set to drop on March 5, just ahead of their launch on March 6, positioning them as strong contenders against the RTX 5070.
The delay for the RTX 5070 stems from unspecified issues. There have been murmurs about possible performance bugs and supply chain disruptions, but NVIDIA has remained tight-lipped about the specifics.
While we wait for the Founders Edition to roll out, it seems that AIB custom versions might still make their way to some markets. Just yesterday, retailers like B&H Photo Video listed the GPU at the $549 MSRP, available in both base and OC configurations. However, if prices soar past $600 for AIB models, it might be wise to explore other options unless you’re in a region with limited GPU choices.
