NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 FE Retail Launch Reportedly Pushed Back to Late March

The latest buzz in the tech world has been swirling around NVIDIA’s new GPU releases. Although the GPU is set to make its debut tomorrow, those eyeing the Founders Edition will need to practice a little patience, as it won’t hit the shelves until later this month.

NVIDIA is adjusting the timeline for the retail availability of the GeForce RTX 5070 FE, pushing it back a few weeks. While NVIDIA has yet to make an official announcement about this change, the news comes from a reputable source—Andreas Schilling, who shared that NVIDIA informed him about this delay through email. It seems the reviews embargo has already been lifted, and enthusiasts were eagerly anticipating snagging one of these this week.

But here’s the twist: Andreas was only notified about this delay a mere few hours before the reviews went public, which means those keen on grabbing the Founders Edition might have to wait a bit longer. It’s still uncertain how this delay will affect the availability of the AIB editions, but judging by recent reports, it looks like stock might be limited.

On Twitter, Andreas shared the surprise and quoted NVIDIA’s message indicating that fans hoping to snag a GeForce RTX 5070 Founders Edition tomorrow would be out of luck. “The RTX 5070 Founders Edition will be available later in March,” read NVIDIA’s update, as he tweeted to his followers.

We’ve seen paper launches before with the likes of the RTX 5090, RTX 5080, and the RTX 5070 Ti, and this situation seems to echo that trend. Reviews of the GeForce RTX 5070 are now circulating, painting a picture of a GPU that performs similarly to the RTX 4070 Super, though it lacks any major generational leaps. Nevertheless, priced at $549, it offers decent value for its capabilities.

If you’re considering alternatives, you might want to bide your time and see how the Radeon RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 play out. These competitors are due to launch on March 6th, with reviews dropping a day earlier. With the XT model at $599 and the non-XT at $549, they pose direct competition to NVIDIA’s latest.

As for the GeForce RTX 5070, the reasons behind its delayed availability remain unclear. There are whispers of performance bugs and supply chain hurdles, but NVIDIA has yet to confirm any of these issues officially.

The waiting game continues for the Founders Edition, but there’s hope that AIB custom editions may still appear in various international markets. Just yesterday, retailers like B&H Photo Video listed these GPUs and set the MSRP at $549 for both standard and OC models. However, if prices inflate beyond $600 for AIB versions, it might be wise to hold off on purchasing unless you have no other equally powerful options available locally.