AMD recently launched their RX 9000 series of graphics cards, as mentioned in a prior livestream via its official channels. Running at the heart of the new RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT is the newly launched RDNA 4 architecture, which brings with it many improvements and optimizations over RDNA 3 and earlier iterations.
Coupled with very respectable pricing, AMD could have a winning formula on its hands – being able to easily overtake Nvidia’s rather disastrous RTX 5000 series launch, if the projected numbers are to be believed.
AMD launches its RX 9000 series with the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT
As detailed within the 30-odd minute long presentation, AMD unveiled its much anticipated RX 9000 series of GPUs – at least in the form of the RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT for now. These cards will be available starting at a shockingly reasonable price of $549 (for the 9070), and should give AMD the boost it needs to re-enter the GPU market with a solid offering.
Both cards are capable of 1440p gaming, (at native resolutions – no upscaling involved!), with the RX 9070 XT pushing for 4K instead. Unlike the prior RDNA 3 architecture, RDNA 4 has seen a lot of changes, right down to its architectural design and cache.
For starters, the cache has been boosted to 64 megabytes for the Infinite Cache, and is paired with a high speed 256-bit bus that comes equipped with a whopping 16 gigabytes of GDDR6 memory. Other than these additions, AMD has also included updated decoding and encoding engines for RDNA 4, which should make it a very viable option for video decoding – something they have been severely ill-equipped for in recent years.
The addition of ML support for upscaling means that FSR 4 will take full advantage of RDNA 4 cards very similar to how Nvidia leverages its DLSS tech on hardware accelerated components. FSR 4 is an improvement over FSR 3.1 in every sense of the term, and unlike DLSS does not appear to be locked down to a single GPU vendor.
AMD has also made sure to keep compatibility a priority this time around, offering standard 8-pin connectors for its GPUs. Additionally, AMD has also commented on the availability of its cards, assuring prospective buyers that cards will be readily available, without major shortages.
AMD’s RX 9000 crushes Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series in almost every possible way
To accompany the presentation, AMD was not afraid to throw some shade at its direct competitor – Nvidia. The RX 9070 in particular, goes toe to toe with Nvidia’s RTX 5070.
The cards are somewhat comparable, with Nvidia having a 2% performance lead. However, AMD more than makes up for it by offering a far more attractive price, and crazy levels of power efficiency.
AMD also does not remove support for legacy technologies in the RX 9000 series, unlike Nvidia’s recent fiasco with the removal of 32-bit PhysX support for the RTX 5000 series.
Amusingly enough, RDNA 4 can actually keep up with the RTX 5000 series in terms of ray tracing performance, and thanks to its reliance on a brand new architecture, it can keep up and sometimes even outperform Nvidia cards in terms of raw performance. With a low starting price, it’s a no-brainer, and AMD definitely has the upper hand here.
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