Every new GPU generation arrives with the same promises of faster speeds, smarter AI, better performance. Yet creators still hit the same wall: memory. Not in compute power, not in raw speed, but in VRAM.
For years, 16GB has quietly become the new ceiling. Try training models, upscaling video, or rendering detailed 3D scenes, and your GPU simply runs out of memory. It doesn’t slow down but rather runs out of space.
That’s why the Radeon AI Pro 9700 matters. It’s not about higher frame rates. It’s about breaking through that with 32GB of VRAM under ₹1,20,000.
Why VRAM Has Become the New Bottleneck
We’ve reached a strange point in GPU evolution. Compute units, ray tracing cores, AI accelerators, everything’s faster. But VRAM hasn’t kept up.
If you wanted more than 16GB of memory, you had two options:
- Spend multiple lakhs on a professional GPU.
- Settle for consumer cards that throttle halfway through complex workloads.
That changes now. AMD’s new workstation GPU doesn’t just double the capacity, it resets what “affordable” means for professional creators.
Specifications and Key Highlights
- Architecture: RDNA 4
- Compute Units: 64
- AI Accelerators: 128
- VRAM: 32GB GDDR6 with ECC Support
- Power Draw: 300W (2-slot design)
- Form Factor: Standard dual-slot workstation
- Price: Just over ₹1 lakh
In simple terms, the Radeon AI Pro 9700 is a professional-grade variant of the 9070 XT but with twice the memory and ECC for stability in compute-heavy tasks.
Why This Card Matters
One word: VRAM.
In 2025, nothing has been more valuable. And with the current ram prices, memory has become the true currency of performance.
AMD’s move to make 32GB accessible at this price effectively breaks the artificial tiering that’s kept creators from scaling their workloads.
Benchmarks reinforce the point:
- DeepSeek R1 (Text Generation): ~58 tokens per second
- Stable Diffusion 1.5 (Image Generation): ~30 iterations per second
- Throughput Performance: 3× higher than competing cards in the same price range (per AMD’s internal tests)
The takeaway: this GPU offers the best cost-per-generation ratio available today.
All that VRAM is not just capacity—it’s throughput, consistency, and freedom from swap-file lag.
ROCm and Software Support
Of course, there’s a catch. The Radeon AI Pro 9700 relies on AMD’s ROCm stack to draw out maximum compute.
At launch, ROCm 7 is primarily supported on:
- Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS
- RHEL 9.6
Windows support is still maturing. While AMD has promised improved compatibility, creators relying on Windows-based pipelines may face early friction.
However, AMD’s latest updates include official PyTorch support, a critical milestone for AI developers. It’s a sign of how fast their ecosystem is catching up.
Real-World Use Cases
The 32GB of VRAM isn’t just for AI.
It’s transformative across several creative disciplines:
1. AI Workloads
Fine-tuning large language models, generating high-resolution images, and running transformer architectures that previously exceeded GPU limits.
2. Video and Image Upscaling
Tools like Topaz Video AI, Starlight, and Proteus are notorious VRAM hogs. The 9700 AI Pro handles them effortlessly, even at 4K+ resolutions.
3. 3D Rendering
Applications like Blender and Maya can now load ultra-high-resolution textures and large lightmaps directly into memory—no more out-of-core rendering slowdowns.
4. Unreal Engine 5
Known for its VRAM-hungry Nanite and Lumen systems, UE5 finally runs fluidly without constant memory warnings.
The Radeon AI Pro 9700 isn’t just another GPU release, it’s a statement. A shift from power to memory, from benchmarks to usability.
If your workflow involves AI, video upscaling, rendering, or any task where VRAM is the choke point, this card changes the equation.
Because in 2025, compute speed means nothing if your GPU runs out of memory.
And for once, you don’t have to pay a fortune to fix that.
