Nvidia announces RTX 5070 Ti GPU is out on February 20, but RTX 5070 is delayed to March 5 – and I’m far from surprised

Nvidia RTX 5070 Founders Edition GPU shown against a green and black backdrop
(Image credit: Nvidia)

  • Nvidia has revealed that the RTX 5070 Ti goes on sale on February 20
  • It’ll be followed by the RTX 5070 on March 5, despite Nvidia originally saying this GPU would arrive in February as well as the Ti
  • The RTX 5070 Ti launch date, and delay to early March for the RTX 5070, were predicted by the rumor mill

Nvidia has confirmed the launch dates of its RTX 5070 graphics cards, with the RTX 5070 Ti arriving as planned in February, but with the vanilla RTX 5070 having been pushed out a bit to March, as rumors had already insisted was the case.

Nvidia updated its official web page for the RTX 5070 models with the exact dates, which are February 20 for the RTX 5070 Ti, and March 5 for the RTX 5070.

Team Green also posted on X to reveal the information about the RTX 5070 Ti, and how the graphics card is coming from third-party board makers and PC builders – remember, this variant won’t have a Founders Edition from Nvidia itself.

The RTX 5070, on the other hand, will have a Founders Edition, but you’ll be waiting a couple more weeks to attempt to order that, or to try and grab a third-party graphics card.

Try being the operative word here, as it remains to be seen what kind of stock levels that the RTX 5070 models will launch with.


An angry PC Gamer sat at their desk looking unhappy

(Image credit: ShutterStock)

Analysis: The rumors were right

It doesn’t bode particularly well that back when all the new Blackwell graphics cards were revealed at CES 2025, Nvidia said that both of these RTX 5070 variants were due to arrive in February at some point (without giving any specific dates). Pretty soon after, there were early rumors suggesting the RTX 5070 non-Ti version would be delayed to early March, and that’s exactly what has happened.

Why the (slight) delay, then? Could this be about running interference with AMD’s RX 9070 launch somehow, which is also in March? I doubt that, and a more likely turn of events is to be found in considering the most recent development with chatter from the grapevine. Namely, the tale spun earlier today about stock of the RTX 5070 possibly being seriously thin on the ground – potentially a similar situation to the one we’ve seen with the RTX 5090 and 5080.

Now, that’s just a rumor, and I’m not saying it’s right, but it certainly makes some sense when you put everything together in the cold light of day. Given Nvidia’s stock woes have been pretty disastrous so far, if the RTX 5070 were to arrive in healthy quantities, it’d be a surprise. It’s certainly a believable theory that the vanilla 5070 needed to be pushed back a bit to ensure something like a half-decent amount of these graphics cards end up on shelves.

The other problem with the RTX 5070 is that given its more affordable price tag, this GPU is going to be in far greater demand than any of the Blackwell graphics cards we’ve seen so far – making a tighter supply a potentially much worse scenario.

Furthermore, bear in mind that the same rumor peddler who was right about the RTX 5070 delay, also suggested the RTX 5060 has been pushed back as well (from March to April).

Naturally, stay skeptical on that particular RTX 5060 nugget, but the other widely spread rumor, the one about the RTX 5070 Ti launching on February 20, has also turned out to be correct. In short, the rumor mill appears to have nailed what’s happening with incoming Blackwell GPUs pretty well thus far, so at this point, I’m definitely not betting against it.

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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).

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