If the latest rumour is true, then AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics cards, which are scheduled for release next month, may be tough to locate at either online or physical retailers.

Twitter user @harukaze5719 brought to our attention that Quasarzone (QSZ) has revealed certain stock levels of the RX 7900 models; these figures should be taken with a healthy pinch of salt.

Quasarzone is predicting “very low” stock levels of the RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX at launch, which is cause for alarm.

That suggests that when the new RDNA 3 GPUs emerge on December 13, there will be a very small supply available at least initially.

However, as @harukaze5719 explains, this most likely refers to the reference boards, which are constructed in accordance with AMD’s baseline standard, and more powerful custom boards from third-party card makers won’t appear until near the end of December. But the Twitter leaker’s informed assumption is that those (more capable) models will come with larger supply.

We need to proceed with caution with this latest report in part because we’ve just heard more optimistic comments that AMD is going to have a substantial quantity of RDNA 3 graphics cards right off the bat.

Therefore, it seems unlikely that Team Red is now potentially considering extremely low stock levels, which clearly contradicts what was previously said. However, as we alluded to above, it is possible that initial availability of the RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX GPUs may be limited (with scalpers likely exacerbating the situation). However, supply may be much increased by the end of the year (perhaps with third-party custom RDNA 3 boards as mentioned).

This fits with the current rumours that bespoke RDNA 3 cards won’t be released until a couple of weeks following reference boards (in the main, anyway).

However, this might be further complicated if there are much more third-party bespoke models than reference models. A second recent report suggests that the bespoke work will result in costly graphics cards, “far more expensive” than reference boards.

If this is the case, then gamers searching for a new high-end graphics card will be dealt another blow, as the already-available Nvidia RTX 4090 and 4080 GPUs are extremely pricey. Even at Team Red’s suggested prices ($899 and $999 in the US), the 7900 XT and XTX are prohibitively expensive for most people.

We can only hope the rumour mill is inaccurate in this instance, but as always, only time will tell. Just keep your fingers crossed that the reported forthcoming RTX 4070 Ti doesn’t have to save the day on the cost front, since we’re not confident it’s going to happen either.