AMD is preparing to launch its new generation of Radeon graphics cards, which will compete with Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 40-series cards. The company has confirmed that it will introduce “new enthusiast-class Radeon 7000-series cards” in the next three months, following the success of its Ryzen processors and its collaboration with Sony and Microsoft for their latest consoles.
The new Radeon cards are expected to feature AMD’s RDNA 3 architecture, which will offer improved performance, efficiency and ray tracing capabilities. AMD hopes to undercut Nvidia’s RTX 40-series cards, which are rumored to launch later this year, and offer a better value proposition for gamers.
AMD’s CEO Dr. Lisa Su announced the upcoming launch during the company’s second-quarter earnings call, where she also revealed that AMD’s GPU business grew by 87% year-over-year, thanks to the strong demand for its chips in the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. Sony and Microsoft have both chosen AMD as their exclusive supplier of CPU and GPU components for their next-gen consoles, which have sold over 20 million units combined since their launch in November 2020.
AMD’s console partnership has not only boosted its revenue and market share, but also helped it overcome some of the challenges posed by the global chip shortage, which has affected both AMD and Nvidia. By securing a steady supply of chips from its foundry partner TSMC, AMD has been able to meet the demand for its consoles, while also allocating some of its capacity for its PC products.
However, AMD still faces some hurdles in its GPU business, as it struggles to compete with Nvidia’s dominance in the high-end segment of the market. According to the latest report from Jon Peddie Research, Nvidia held a 81% share of the discrete GPU market in the second quarter of 2021, while AMD had only 19%. Nvidia also has an edge in the emerging fields of artificial intelligence, cloud computing and cryptocurrency mining, where its CUDA platform and Ampere architecture have gained wide adoption.
AMD hopes to change this situation with its new Radeon cards, which will leverage its advantages in power efficiency, multi-chip design and console optimization. The company also plans to expand its software ecosystem, such as its FidelityFX Super Resolution technology, which aims to rival Nvidia’s DLSS feature for boosting frame rates and image quality.
AMD’s new Radeon cards are expected to debut around Gamescom or soon after in September, according to PC Gamer. The flagship model is likely to be the RX 7800 XT, which will target the RTX 4070 card from Nvidia. The RX 7800 XT could offer up to 80 compute units, 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a boost clock of over 2.5 GHz, according to some leaks and rumors.
AMD’s new Radeon cards could be a game-changer for the PC gaming market, as they could offer more choice, competition and innovation for gamers. With the help of Sony and Microsoft, AMD is poised to make a comeback in the GPU business and challenge Nvidia’s leadership.