AMD previewed its upcoming RDNA 4 generation of graphics cards at CES 2025. The first thing you notice is the (again) revised naming scheme for the GPUs. In recent years, AMD has changed the branding of its graphics cards several times: from the HD-7000 series to R7/R9 models, RX-400 and RX-5000 series to the current RX-7000 generation. With RDNA 4, the company is once again introducing a new system.
The models now have names like RX 9070 XT to bring them in line with the Ryzen 9000 processor series. The RX-8000 series, however, remains reserved for GPUs with RDNA 3.5 architecture. But what actually happens “under the hood”? AMD has announced that it will improve the GPUs through three measures.
- Improved Compute Units: These have been optimized to increase both instructions per clock (IPC) and clock speeds.
- Focus on AI and ray tracing: The GPUs include AI and ray tracing accelerators to improve both AI-based applications and ray tracing performance.
- Neue Radiance Display Engine: The second generation of the engine is intended to provide better display and media support.
Previous benchmark leaks suggest that the flagship RX 9070 XT could perform at roughly the same level as the current RX 7900 XT or Nvidia RTX 4070 Ti. AMD consciously decided not to attack the top performance of the upcoming Nvidia RTX 5090 or 5080. Instead, according to AMD Senior Vice President Jack Huynh, the company is pursuing a strategy aimed at scaling and market expansion.
The first models of the RX-9070 series are scheduled to come onto the market in the first quarter of 2025. AMD has not yet provided any specific pricing information.
These are the new AMD CPUs
AMD also presented its new laptop CPUs at CES 2025. The new flagship is codenamed “Fire Range” and is a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D. Technically it remains largely identical to its X3D predecessor, the 7945HX3D, but offers further developments in architecture. While its predecessor was based on Zen 4, the 9955HX3D uses the modern Zen 5 architecture. Like the previous model, it has 16 cores, 32 threads and a total cache of 144 MB. AMD describes it as the “world’s best mobile processor for gaming and content creation,” but does not publish specific performance data.
In addition to the 9955HX3D, two other Ryzen 9000 series processors were announced: the 16-core Ryzen 9 9955HX and the 12-core Ryzen 9 9850HX. These models do without 3D V-Cache technology and have a reduced cache of 80 or 76 MB.
Additionally, AMD introduced the Ryzen 200 series, which is based on the Zen 4 architecture. These processors are aimed at the mainstream notebook market and include four, six and eight core models. At the top of the series are the Ryzen 9 270, Ryzen 7 260 and Ryzen 7 250, each with eight cores. The six-core models are called Ryzen 5 240, 230 and 220, while the Ryzen 3 210 is a quad-core model.
AMD plans to launch the Ryzen 9000 series processors in the first half of 2025. The Ryzen 200 series for mainstream notebooks is scheduled to appear in the second quarter of 2025.
Source: www.connect.de
