Speculation about AMD’s continued plans for releasing high-end graphics cards in the consumer market is increasing following a new rumor. The rumor comes via well-known AMD leaker @Kepler_L2 who claims that the next Navi4 generation will not include any high-end GPUs. According to VideoCardz, and the rumor, this renewed strategy would mirror what AMD did with its RDNA1 and Polaris graphics cards. Apparently, according to another rumor, AMD has already canceled its Navi 41 GPU, Navi 42 is in doubt, and Navi 43 and 44 are still on track.
Navi4 lineup will not have any high-end GPUs
— Kepler (@Kepler_L2) August 4, 2023
Think of it like RDNA1 or Polaris generation.
AMD may not need to be in the high-end consumer GPU segment
There could be possible credence to the rumor, which was claimed to have been verified by three sources. VideoCardz also checked with its own sources who have shared a similar sentiment. While having made strides since RDNA1, AMD has yet to produce a graphics card during the same release cycle as NVIDIA that could truly beat team green’s flagship cards.
In terms of rasterization, AMD’s cards can often go toe-to-toe with NVIDIA’s 2nd best consumer cards but the top tier has continued to elude it during the same cycle, although it has said that releasing a card capable of doing so carries such a high cost and uses so much power, that it defies common sense. Extreme overclocking of its current flagship, the Radeon RX 7900XTX, has proven some of this to be true. To be fair though, AMD’s flagship cards have been gaining ground over the last few generations and often can compete favorably with NVIDA’s previous flagship offerings.
Meanwhile, AMD’s efforts in the mid-range segment have consistently been a strength for the company. It has often managed to trade blows there with NVIDIA, and Intel who recently entered the discreet GPU arena with its own line of mid-range cards, in this area. Additionally, AMD’s mainstream and custom APUs have come to dominate the console gaming market with Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox, and handheld PCs with Valve’s SteamDeck and its competitors. AMD even brokered a deal with Tesla for its processors to be used in its cars. With all this being out in the open the speculation about AMD’s continued commitment to the high-end GPU segment seems plausible.
RDNA3 Refresh
There has already been a great deal of speculation regarding the current RDNA3-based line. From some cards potentially being removed or delayed from the current release schedule to refreshes, which is highly probable, and even the possibility of upgrading the RDNA3 architecture with 3D V-Cache technology, there has been much said regarding the future of the current architecture. There are even rumors that RDNA 3.5 could be in the works but also that it might only be used for Ryzen 8000 series iGPUs.
An AMD roadmap does indicate that RDNA4/Navi 4x is still planned for release by 2024 but it has, so far, not responded regarding the matter of plans to release more high-end GPUs in that generation. However recently AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su said that more enthusiast Radeon RX 7000 series cards are inbound in Q3 23. The Radeon RX 7800/7800XTX is believed to be what could be released then.