AMD has been a driving force in gaming for 25 years, powering everything from early first-person shooters to today’s high-performance consoles and handhelds. The company’s dedication to gamers shows in every generation of Radeon graphics technology, from the groundbreaking R100 architecture to today’s advanced RDNA 3 designs. AMD’s graphics solutions have evolved from simple 30 million transistor designs to complex systems nearly 2,000 times more sophisticated.
The new RDNA 4 architecture represents AMD’s next major step forward in gaming graphics. Built with ambitious goals, it aims to make enthusiast-level gaming experiences accessible to more players. The architecture features significant improvements to ray tracing and machine learning capabilities, designed to meet gaming needs for years to come. AMD has focused on delivering the best performance per dollar, with enhancements across the entire rendering pipeline and improvements to their display and media engines.
You can re-watch the event on YouTube here:
The highlight of the event was:
RX 9070 XT:-
$599 Launch price
64 Compute Units
16GB GDDR6 Memory
2970 MHz Boost Clock
304W Board Power
1557 Peak AI TOPS
Pinned against 5070 Ti, +23% performance per dollar comparably.
RX 9070:-
$549 Launch price
56 Compute Units
16GB GDDR6 Memory
2520 MHz Boost Clock
220W Board Power
1165 Peak AI TOPS
Pinned against 7900 GRE, 3-4X (+21%) performance comparably.
Both cards utilize 16 (2×8) PCIe connectors instead of the 12VHPWR connector.
On sale starting from the 6th of March 2025.
Here’s AMD’s press release statement on the launch:
– The new AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series graphics cards deliver enthusiast-level gaming experiences supercharged by AI –
SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 28, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) today unveiled the highly-anticipated AMD RDNA™ 4 graphics architecture with the launch of the AMD Radeon™ RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 graphics cards as a part of the Radeon™ RX 9000 Series. The new graphics cards feature 16GB of memory and extensive improvements designed for high-quality gaming graphics, including re-vamped raytracing accelerators and powerful AI accelerators for ultra-fast, cutting-edge performance, and breakthrough gaming experiences.
In a YouTube livestream, David McAfee, CVP and GM, Ryzen CPU and Radeon Graphics AMD, was joined by Andrej Zdravkovic, SVP of GPU Technologies and Engineering and Chief Software Officer, AMD, as well as Andy Pomianowski, CVP of Silicon Design Engineering, AMD, to discuss the outstanding performance and value proposition of the Radeon RX 9000 Series. In a related event in Zhuhai, China, Jack Huynh, SVP of the Client and Graphics Group, AMD, led a regional event for the new products. Huynh was joined by David Wang, SVP of GPU Technology and Engineering, AMD, and Lanzhi Wang, Senior Director of Product Management, AMD. The celebration was also marked by a customer celebration with Darren Grasby, EVP and Chief Sales Officer, AMD; Spencer Pan, President of AMD China, and partners including Asrock, ASUS, Gigabyte, Sapphire, Tul, Vastarmor, Veston, and XFX.
“Today, we’re thrilled to unveil the AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series, a significant leap forward in graphics performance powered by our next-generation AMD RDNA™ 4 architecture,” said McAfee. “These GPUs are designed to meet the demands of today’s games, delivering enthusiast-class gaming experiences to gamers everywhere, while ready to support tomorrow’s innovations. Through the power of advanced AI and Raytracing accelerators, we’re not just improving frame rates – we’re fundamentally enhancing the gaming experience. Offering incredible performance, AI-powered features, and next-gen display support at competitive price points, the Radeon RX 9000 Series delivers exceptional value for gamers looking to upgrade their systems.”
The RX 9000 Series, powered by the new AMD RDNA™ 4 architecture, offers gamers and creators a powerful blend of performance, visuals, and value. These advanced graphics cards redefine incredibly fast, high-resolution gaming with third-generation raytracing technology enabling realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections to deliver immersive gaming experiences while integrating a suite of AMD features to maximize hardware utilization. Beyond gaming, the RX 9000 Series GPUs leverage new second-generation AI accelerators with up to 8x INT8 throughput per AI accelerator (for sparse matrices) to enhance creative applications and effectively run generative AI applications (vs. RDNA 3).1 The RX 9000 Series GPUs also implement the newly redesigned AMD Radiance Display™ Engine & Enhanced Media Engine for broad display support and elevated quality in both recording and streaming.
Gaming For Today and Tomorrow
The Radeon RX 9000 Series unlocks new levels of performance while delivering a suite of new and enhanced features that improve the gaming experience. The Radeon RX 9070 Series offers 16GB of GDDR6 memory, allowing gamers to render the most exciting games of today and tomorrow at max settings. Compared to the previous generation RX 7900 GRE, the latest AMD Radeon RX 9070 is able to deliver over 20% more performance on average when gaming at 1440,2 with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT extending that lead to over 40% on average.3Both graphics cards make smart upgrades for gamers looking to future-proof their systems with a suite of next-gen features that will keep their experiences feeling fresh for years to come. Key features include:
- Unified AMD RDNA™ 4 Compute Units – Features up to 64 advanced AMD RDNA™ 4 compute units delivering up to 40% higher gaming performance than the previous-generation AMD RDNA™ 3 architecture.3
- High-Performance Raytracing – With 3rd generation Raytracing Accelerators, AMD RDNA 4 is able to deliver over 2x the Raytracing throughput per compute unit when compared to our previous generation.1 Gamers with the latest AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series are ready for immersive gaming experiences with high-quality graphics, including realistic lighting, shadows, and reflections.
- Supercharged AI Acceleration – 2nd Generation AI Accelerators received several enhancements, allowing AMD RDNA™ 4 to efficiently process advanced AI models much faster than what was possible with RDNA 3,4 through a combination of additional math pipelines for AI calculations, expanding the capabilities of the AI Accelerator to support new emerging data types such as FP8, and support for inference optimization techniques such as structured sparsity. These changes deliver up to 8x INT8 throughput per AI accelerator (for sparse matrices) per compute unit vs the previous generation.1
- AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution Technology 4 (FSR 4) – AMD’s new cutting-edge ML-powered upscaling technology delivers high-quality boosted frames under even the most demanding workloads, such as 4K gaming with maximum raytracing settings and will be supported in over 30 games at launch.
- Innovative suite of features through HYPR-RX – Gamers can instantly improve their experience by activating AMD HYPR-RX and the suite of features within AMD Software, including AMD Radeon™ Super Resolution, AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2.1, AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag, and AMD Radeon™ Boost. These features can all be tailored to gamers’ hardware and preferences within AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ to drive increased FPS, responsiveness and efficiency.
- AI-Enhanced AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ Application – A new suite of software and resources designed to deliver an industry-leading AI user experience with AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards. Keep your drivers and AI software up to date with the new Software Manager. Find the answers to your questions about all things AMD or create free and private text and images with AMD Chat. Discover, download and install new and exciting AMD-partnered AI applications with the App Portal, and leverage AI to improve software quality with the AMD Image Inspector.
- Ready for Next-Generation Displays – AMD Radiance Display™ Engine supports the latest DisplayPort™ 2.1a and HDMI® 2.1b connections, enabling ultra-high resolutions and refresh rates up to 8K 144Hz, with 12-bit HDR and full REC2020 Color Space for incredible color accuracy. Paired with AMD FreeSync™ technology, gamers can enjoy tear-free, stutter-free gaming experiences on over 4000 compatible displays, including upcoming 4K 240Hz and 8K 144Hz DisplayPort™ 2.1 monitors.5
ML-Powered AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 4 (AMD FSR 4) Upgrade
- Available exclusively on AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series graphics cards, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ adds a new easy-to-use AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 4 (AMD FSR 4) Upgrade feature that helps maximize performance at maximum quality in over 30 games at launch, with 75 coming later this year. AMD FSR 4 delivers a substantial image quality improvement over AMD FSR 3.1 upscaling, with the new ML-based algorithm helping to improve temporal stability, better preserve detail, and reduce ghosting.
- Utilizing features already built into the AMD FidelityFX™ API added when game developers integrate AMD FSR 3.1 into their games, AMD FSR 4 enables an easy upgrade for supported FSR 3.1 games and can be combined with existing in-game AMD FSR 3.1 advanced frame-generation and AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag 2 for ultra-smooth, ultra-responsive gaming at incredible frame rates on AMD Radeon RX 9070 Series graphics cards.
- The new ML-accelerated AMD FSR 4 upscaling algorithm is trained using high-quality ground truth game data on AMD Instinct™ Accelerators and uses the hardware-accelerated FP8 Wave Matrix Multiply Accumulate (WMMA) feature of the AMD RDNA™ 4 architecture to ensure maximum upscaling quality while still providing a substantial game performance boost.
AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series Product Specifications
Model Compute Units GDDR6 Game Clock (GHz) Boost Clock6 (GHz) Memory Interface Infinity Cache TBP Price
(USD SEP)AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT 64 16 GB 2.4 Up to 3.0 256-bit 64 MB 304W $599 AMD Radeon RX 9070 56 16 GB 2.1 Up to 2.5 256-bit 64 MB 220W $549
Pricing and Availability
AMD Radeon RX 9000 Series graphics cards are expected to be available from leading board partners including Acer, ASRock, ASUS, Gigabyte, PowerColor, Sapphire, Vastarmor, XFX and Yeston beginning March 6th, 2025. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has an SEP of $599 USD, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 has an SEP of $549 USD.Supporting Resources
- Learn more AMD Radeon Graphics cards here
- Learn about RDNA 4 here
- Learn more about AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution here
- Follow AMD on LinkedIn
- Follow AMD on X
About AMD
For more than 50 years AMD has driven innovation in high-performance computing, graphics and visualization technologies. Billions of people, leading Fortune 500 businesses and cutting-edge scientific research institutions around the world rely on AMD technology daily to improve how they live, work and play. AMD employees are focused on building leadership high-performance and adaptive products that push the boundaries of what is possible. For more information about how AMD is enabling today and inspiring tomorrow, visit the AMD (NASDAQ: AMD) website, blog, LinkedIn and X pages.Cautionary Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) such as the features, functionality, performance, availability, timing and expected benefits of AMD products including the AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series graphics cards, which are made pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are commonly identified by words such as “would,” “may,” “expects,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” “projects” and other terms with similar meaning. Investors are cautioned that the forward-looking statements in this press release are based on current beliefs, assumptions and expectations, speak only as of the date of this press release and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. Such statements are subject to certain known and unknown risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond AMD’s control, that could cause actual results and other future events to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. Material factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations include, without limitation, the following: Intel Corporation’s dominance of the microprocessor market and its aggressive business practices; Nvidia’s dominance in the graphics processing unit market and its aggressive business practices; competitive markets in which AMD’s products are sold; the cyclical nature of the semiconductor industry; market conditions of the industries in which AMD products are sold; AMD’s ability to introduce products on a timely basis with expected features and performance levels; loss of a significant customer; economic and market uncertainty; quarterly and seasonal sales patterns; AMD’s ability to adequately protect its technology or other intellectual property; unfavorable currency exchange rate fluctuations; ability of third party manufacturers to manufacture AMD’s products on a timely basis in sufficient quantities and using competitive technologies; availability of essential equipment, materials, substrates or manufacturing processes; ability to achieve expected manufacturing yields for AMD’s products; AMD’s ability to generate revenue from its semi-custom SoC products; potential security vulnerabilities; potential security incidents including IT outages, data loss, data breaches and cyberattacks; uncertainties involving the ordering and shipment of AMD’s products; AMD’s reliance on third-party intellectual property to design and introduce new products; AMD’s reliance on third-party companies for design, manufacture and supply of motherboards, software, memory and other computer platform components; AMD’s reliance on Microsoft and other software vendors’ support to design and develop software to run on AMD’s products; AMD’s reliance on third-party distributors and add-in-board partners; impact of modification or interruption of AMD’s internal business processes and information systems; compatibility of AMD’s products with some or all industry-standard software and hardware; costs related to defective products; efficiency of AMD’s supply chain; AMD’s ability to rely on third party supply-chain logistics functions; AMD’s ability to effectively control sales of its products on the gray market; long-term impact of climate change on AMD’s business; impact of government actions and regulations such as export regulations, tariffs and trade protection measures; AMD’s ability to realize its deferred tax assets; potential tax liabilities; current and future claims and litigation; impact of environmental laws, conflict minerals related provisions and other laws or regulations; evolving expectations from governments, investors, customers and other stakeholders regarding corporate responsibility matters; issues related to the responsible use of AI; restrictions imposed by agreements governing AMD’s notes, the guarantees of Xilinx’s notes and the revolving credit agreement; impact of acquisitions, joint ventures and/or strategic investments on AMD’s business and AMD’s ability to integrate acquired businesses; our ability to complete the acquisition of ZT Systems; impact of any impairment of the combined company’s assets; political, legal and economic risks and natural disasters; future impairments of technology license purchases; AMD’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; and AMD’s stock price volatility. Investors are urged to review in detail the risks and uncertainties in AMD’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to AMD’s most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q.© 2025 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. All rights reserved. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, AMD RDNA, FidelityFX, Radeon, Ryzen, and combinations thereof are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Other product names used in this publication are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners. Certain AMD technologies may require third-party enablement or activation. Supported features may vary by operating system. Please confirm with the system manufacturer for specific features. No technology or product can be completely secure.
1 Based on specifications of AMD RDNA 4 architecture compared to AMD RDNA 3 architecture as of December 2024. RX-1143
2 Testing done by AMD performance labs February 2025, on a test system configured with Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, 32 GB DDR5-6000 Memory, Windows 11 Pro and Radeon RX 9070 (Driver 25.3.1 RC 31) vs. a similarly configured system with an RX 7900 GRE (Driver 25.3.1 RC31) comparing gaming performance at 4K in the following applications: Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12, Ultra), Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12, RT Ultra), Assassin’s Creed Mirage (DX12, Ultra High), F1 24 (DX12, Ultra High), F1 24 (DX12, Ultra High RT), Starfield (DX12, Ultra), Far Cry 6 (DX12, Ultra), Far Cry 6 (DX12, Ultra RT), Forza Horizon 5 (DX12, Extreme), Forza Horizon 5 (DX12, RT Extreme), Watch Dogs Legion (DX12, Ultra), Watch Dogs Legion (DX12, RT Ultra), Horizon Forbidden West (DX12, Maxed), Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (DX12, Maxed), God of War: Ragnarok (DX12, Ultra), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12, Extreme), DOOM Eternal (Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare), DOOM Eternal (Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare RT), Total War: Warhammer 3 (DX11, Ultra), Dying Light 2 (DX12, High), Dying Light 2 (DX12, High Raytracing), Alan Wake 2 (DX12, High), Alan Wake 2 (DX12, High w/Med RT), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (DX12, Ultra), Hitman 3 (DX12, Ultra), Hitman 3 (DX12, Ultra RT), The Witcher 3 (DX12, Ultra+), The Witcher 3 (DX12, RT Ultra), Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (DX12, Extreme), Black Myth: Wukong (DX12, Cinematic), Black Myth: Wukong (DX12, Cinematic RT) Baldur’s Gate 3 (DX11, Ultra), Ghost of Tsushima (DX12, Very High), Star Wars Outlaws (DX12, Ultra RT), Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (DX12, Ultra), Control (DX12, High), Control (DX12, High RT), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DX12, Ultra), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DX12, Ultra RT), Resident Evil 4 (DX12, Max), Resident Evil 4 (DX12, Max RT), Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (DX12, Maxed), Marvel’s Spiderman 2 (DX12, Maxed RT), Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (DX12, Ultra), The Last of Us: Part 1 (DX12, Ultra), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (DX12, Epic), Final Fantasy XVI Demo (DX12, Ultra). Testing conducted with latest game builds as of February 5, 2025 (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, The Last of Us: Part 1, and Forza Horizon 5 using latest builds as of February 14th, 2025). System manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. RX-1176.
3 Testing done by AMD performance labs February 2025, on a test system configured with Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, 32 GB DDR5-6000 Memory, Windows 11 Pro and Radeon RX 9070 XT (Driver 25.3.1 RC 31) vs. a similarly configured system with an RX 7900 GRE (Driver 25.3.1 RC31) comparing gaming performance at 4K in the following applications: Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12, Ultra), Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12, RT Ultra), Assassin’s Creed Mirage (DX12, Ultra High), F1 24 (DX12, Ultra High), F1 24 (DX12, Ultra High RT), Starfield (DX12, Ultra), Far Cry 6 (DX12, Ultra), Far Cry 6 (DX12, Ultra RT), Forza Horizon 5 (DX12, Extreme), Forza Horizon 5 (DX12, RT Extreme), Watch Dogs Legion (DX12, Ultra), Watch Dogs Legion (DX12, RT Ultra), Horizon Forbidden West (DX12, Maxed), Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered (DX12, Maxed), God of War: Ragnarok (DX12, Ultra), Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12, Extreme), DOOM Eternal (Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare), DOOM Eternal (Vulkan, Ultra Nightmare RT), Total War: Warhammer 3 (DX11, Ultra), Dying Light 2 (DX12, High), Dying Light 2 (DX12, High Raytracing), Alan Wake 2 (DX12, High), Alan Wake 2 (DX12, High w/Med RT), Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (DX12, Ultra), Hitman 3 (DX12, Ultra), Hitman 3 (DX12, Ultra RT), The Witcher 3 (DX12, Ultra+), The Witcher 3 (DX12, RT Ultra), Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition (DX12, Extreme), Black Myth: Wukong (DX12, Cinematic), Black Myth: Wukong (DX12, Cinematic RT) Baldur’s Gate 3 (DX11, Ultra), Ghost of Tsushima (DX12, Very High), Star Wars Outlaws (DX12, Ultra RT), Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 (DX12, Ultra), Control (DX12, High), Control (DX12, High RT), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DX12, Ultra), Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DX12, Ultra RT), Resident Evil 4 (DX12, Max), Resident Evil 4 (DX12, Max RT), Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (DX12, Maxed), Marvel’s Spiderman 2 (DX12, Maxed RT), Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (DX12 Ultra), The Last of Us: Part 1 (DX12, Ultra), S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (DX12, Epic), Final Fantasy XVI Demo (DX12, Ultra). Testing conducted with latest game builds as of February 5, 2025 (Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, The Last of Us: Part 1, and Forza Horizon 5 using latest builds as of February 14th, 2025). System manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. RX-1179.
4 Testing by AMD, as of February 2025 using Amuse 2.3.15 and Procyon 2.10.1542 64. Models used: SD 1.5, SDXL, ComputerVision FP16, and FLUX Schnell. System configuration: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D, 32GB 6000 MT/s DDR5 RAM, 2TB SSD with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU vs. a similarly configured system with a Radeon RX 7900 GRE GPU. Driver 25.3.1 RC 31. Performance may vary. RX-1168.
5 AMD FreeSync/FreeSync Premium/FreeSync Premium Pro technology requires AMD Radeon graphics and a display certified by AMD. See www.amd.com/freesync for complete details. Confirm capability with your system or display manufacturer before purchase. GD-127.
6 Boost Clock Frequency is the maximum frequency achievable on the GPU running a bursty workload. Boost clock achievability, frequency, and sustainability will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to: thermal conditions and variation in applications and workloads. GD-151.
Key Takeaways
AMD celebrates 25 years of gaming innovation with Radeon graphics evolving from simple designs to complex systems that power consoles, handhelds, and PCs.
The new RDNA 4 architecture brings significant improvements to ray tracing and machine learning while making enthusiast-level gaming more accessible.
Enhanced compute units, improved memory handling, and upgraded media engines promise faster, smoother gameplay and better streaming quality.
25 Years of AMD in Gaming
AMD has powered gaming moments for 25 years, pushing the industry forward with strong performance. From early first-person shooters to today’s console battles on Xbox and PlayStation, AMD technology has been there. The company has also helped power handheld devices like Steam Deck, always working to improve visual quality through each generation of Radeon graphics.
Gaming sits at the heart of AMD’s work. PC gaming has grown into a major part of the entertainment world, bringing together millions of players in a shared community. AMD powers many iconic gaming devices, including:
- Xbox consoles (from Xbox 360 to Series X)
- PlayStation systems (PS4 to PS5 Pro)
- Handheld gaming devices:
- Valve Steam Deck OLED
- ASUS ROG Ally
- Lenovo Legion Go
- Gaming PCs and laptops
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Radeon graphics. The journey began with the R100 architecture, which featured 30 million transistors and hardware transform and lighting capabilities. Since then, AMD has created many breakthrough products:
| Product | Achievement |
|---|---|
| Radeon 9700 Pro | Beloved by gamers |
| HD 4800 series | First Teraflop GPU |
| R9 Fury X | First consumer card with high bandwidth memory |
| RX 5700 XT (2019) | Introduced advanced RDNA architecture |
Today’s RDNA 3 RX 7000 designs feature hardware ray tracing and AI accelerators nearly 2,000 times more complex than the first Radeon GPU 25 years ago.
The new RDNA 4 architecture aims to make enthusiast-level gaming accessible to more players. AMD focused on improving ray tracing and machine learning technologies while delivering better performance per dollar. The architecture includes enhancements to the command processor, updated compute units, and improved memory efficiency and compression.
RDNA 4 also brings major improvements to encoding quality for streamers using Twitch, YouTube, and Discord. H.264 encoding at 6000 kilobits per second shows up to 20% higher V-math quality scores compared to previous generations.
Evolution of Radeon Graphics
From R100 to RDNA 3
The Radeon journey began 25 years ago with the R100 architecture, which featured an impressive 30 million transistors and hardware transform and lighting capabilities. This was just the beginning of AMD’s commitment to pushing graphics boundaries.
Over time, Radeon graphics evolved from separate pixel and vertex shaders to unified programmable shader units. The technology has grown exponentially – today’s RDNA 3 designs include hardware ray tracing and AI accelerators that are nearly 2,000 times more complex than the first Radeon GPU.
This transformation has been marked by several milestone releases:
- 2019: Introduction of the advanced RDNA architecture with RX 5700 XT
- Present day: RDNA 3 RX 7000 series with advanced ray tracing capabilities
Radeon 9700 Pro and Beyond
The Radeon 9700 Pro stands as one of the most beloved products in AMD’s graphics history. This groundbreaking card set new standards for performance and helped establish AMD as a serious competitor in the high-end graphics market.
Other notable achievements in AMD’s graphics journey include:
- HD 4800 series: The first GPU to reach one Teraflop of computing power
- Radeon R9 Fury X: Pioneered high bandwidth memory technology in consumer graphics
These innovations weren’t just technical achievements—they represented AMD’s ongoing commitment to delivering better gaming experiences across platforms. From powering the Xbox 360 to the PlayStation 5 Pro, AMD’s graphics technology has been at the heart of gaming’s most iconic devices.
Advancements in RDNA Architecture
The RDNA architecture represents AMD’s modern approach to graphics, with each generation bringing significant improvements. The architecture focuses on delivering exceptional gaming performance while embracing new technologies like ray tracing.
Key RDNA architectural advancements:
| Generation | Key Features | Notable Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| RDNA 1 | High frequency design | Significant performance-per-watt gains |
| RDNA 2 | Infinity Cache, Ray tracing | Enhanced gaming performance |
| RDNA 3 | Chiplet design, Matrix acceleration | Advanced construction techniques |
AMD’s philosophy embraces all rendering techniques that developers might use. This is why they regularly update their GPU Open website with research and development resources available to everyone. Whether games use approximations for global illumination with compute shaders or leverage AMD’s ray tracing capabilities, RDNA architectures are built to deliver excellent performance.
AMD’s Commitment to Gamers
PC and Console Gaming Milestones
For 25 years, AMD has powered gaming experiences with high-performance technology. The journey began with the R100 architecture, which featured 30 million transistors and hardware transform and lighting capabilities. Over time, AMD transformed graphics processing from separate pixel and vertex shaders to unified programmable shader units.
Several products marked important milestones in AMD’s history:
- Radeon 9700 Pro: A groundbreaking GPU loved by gamers
- HD 4800 series: The first GPU to reach one Teraflop of computing power
- Radeon R9 Fury X: First consumer graphics card with high bandwidth memory
- RX 5700 XT (2019): Introduced the advanced RDNA architecture
Today’s RDNA 3 designs in the RX 7000 series include hardware ray tracing and AI accelerators that are nearly 2,000 times more complex than the first Radeon GPU. AMD has also been central to console gaming, powering devices from the Xbox 360 to the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4 to PlayStation 5 Pro, and handheld platforms like Steam Deck OLED, ASUS ROG Ally, and Lenovo Legion Go.
The upcoming RDNA 4 architecture aims to make enthusiast-level gaming accessible to more players. It features:
- Enhanced command processors for faster handling of applications
- Updated compute units for more efficient shading
- Double the ray tracing performance
- Significant improvements in machine learning capabilities
- Better memory interface efficiency and compression
Fostering Community and Creativity
AMD views gaming as more than just technology—it’s about community, creativity, and expanding possibilities. The company regularly updates its GPU open website, sharing research and development resources for everyone to use. This helps developers choose between fast approximations to global illumination using compute shaders or advanced ray tracing capabilities.
For content creators and streamers, RDNA 4 delivers major encoding quality improvements across H.264, H.265, and AV1. When using the H.264 encoder at 6000 kilobits per second, users can expect up to 20% higher V-math quality scores compared to previous generations.
The AMD team built RDNA 4 with a clear philosophy: to embrace all techniques that graphics developers might use, creating the best possible platform for them to share their vision with gamers. This approach helps AMD support modern game rendering that combines various tools to deliver worlds with incredible detail and realism.
Key improvements in the RDNA 4 compute unit include:
- New architecture for handling memory requests
- Enhanced register storage with dynamic allocation techniques
- Dedicated engines to accelerate register block moves
- Extended instruction set for scalar units
These changes make the compute units the most capable AMD has ever shipped in consumer hardware.
Introducing RDNA 4
Goals and Focus of RDNA 4
AMD started the RDNA 4 project with clear aims in mind. The team wanted to create an architecture that brings enthusiast-level gaming to more players than ever before. This next step in the Radeon journey focuses on where gaming is heading, not just where it is today.
Every product decision was made with performance per dollar leadership in mind. The architecture team balanced delivering the capabilities gamers want most while keeping products accessible. They paid special attention to ray tracing and machine learning technologies, building an improved engine to handle games for years to come.
Architectural Innovations
RDNA 4 brings improvements to every part of the rendering pipeline. The architecture includes:
- Enhanced command processor to handle application commands faster
- Updated compute units for more efficient shading
- Improved memory interface with better efficiency and compression
- Upgraded AMD Radiance Display and Media Engines
The new compute unit contains several key optimizations compared to RDNA 3:
| Improvement | Benefit |
|---|---|
| New memory request architecture | More efficient workflow for complex shading |
| Dynamic register allocation | Increased efficiency |
| Dedicated engines for register block moves | Faster function calls in modern shading languages |
| Extended instruction set for scalar units | Better performance and lower power consumption |
For content creators, RDNA 4 delivers major encoding quality improvements across H.264, H.265, and AV1. H.264 encoding at 6000 kilobits per second shows up to 20% higher V-math quality scores compared to the previous generation.
Enhancing Ray Tracing and ML Technologies
AMD’s approach embraces all techniques that graphics developers might use. The team built RDNA 4 to adapt and deliver great performance whether games use fast approximations to global illumination with compute shaders or choose to leverage advanced ray tracing for higher quality.
Ray tracing received special attention in this generation. The engineers tackled improvements at all levels by:
- Doubling ray tracing performance compared to RDNA 3
- Creating hardware that can trace more rays more quickly
- Building specialized units to handle complex calculations
Machine learning technologies see even larger improvements than ray tracing in RDNA 4. The architecture was designed to support both today’s rendering techniques and tomorrow’s ML-enhanced graphics pipelines.
These enhancements make RDNA 4’s compute units the most capable AMD has ever shipped in consumer hardware, which is reflected in the performance results.
Software Innovations for RDNA 4
Enhancements for Gaming Experience
AMD has built new software features to make RDNA 4 graphics cards better for gamers. These improvements focus on giving players more control and better visuals in their games.
The team has made big upgrades to their encoding technology. Streamers will see up to 20% higher quality when using H.264 at 6000 kilobits per second. This means clearer streams on Twitch, YouTube, and Discord without needing to use more bandwidth.
AMD’s FSR technology continues to evolve with RDNA 4. The company has always pushed for better visual quality, and their latest upscaling technology helps players get higher framerates without losing image quality.
The AMD Radiance Display Engine has received updates too. These changes help games look more vibrant and run smoother on modern displays. The Media Engine improvements support better streaming quality across multiple formats:
- H.264
- H.265
- AV1
For developers, AMD keeps updating their GPU open website with new research and tools. This helps game makers use AMD’s ray tracing and other features to their full potential.
The software works closely with the new hardware to handle both traditional rendering and ray tracing workloads. Whether games use compute shaders for lighting or full ray tracing, RDNA 4’s software is built to deliver great performance.
Radeon RX 9000 Series Performance
Performance Metrics and Expectations
The RDNA 4 architecture powers the new Radeon RX 9000 series with significant improvements across the board. The updated compute units in these cards work more efficiently with memory requests, making modern games run smoother than before. AMD has upgraded the register storage system with dynamic allocation techniques that boost efficiency while adding dedicated engines to speed up register block moves.
AMD focused heavily on ray tracing capabilities in the RX 9000 series. These cards can trace more rays more quickly than previous generations. The instruction set for scalar units has been expanded, allowing the compiler to schedule more work on these units. This leads to better performance and lower power consumption.
The enhancements to the cards’ architecture appear at every step of the rendering process:
- Front end: Enhanced command processor handles application commands faster
- Core: Updated compute units double ray tracing performance
- Memory interface: Improved efficiency and compression
For content creators, the RX 9000 series delivers major encoding quality improvements:
- Up to 20% higher V-math quality scores at 6000 kbps when using H.264
- Enhanced quality across H.264, H.265, and AV1 codecs
- Better streaming performance for Twitch, YouTube, and Discord
These performance gains come from AMD’s holistic approach to designing graphics hardware that adapts to various rendering techniques, whether using compute shaders or ray tracing.
Insights from AMD’s Lead Architect
Engineering the RDNA 4 Graphics Architecture
The RDNA 4 architecture represents the most powerful design we’ve ever created for gaming graphics. We targeted every part of the rendering pipeline with meaningful improvements. The enhanced command processor now handles application commands more quickly. We’ve updated the core to increase shading efficiency while doubling ray tracing performance. The memory interface has been rebuilt with better efficiency and compression.
Our goal was simple: make games run faster and smoother than ever before. We didn’t stop at raw performance, though. The AMD Radiance Display and Media Engines received significant updates to benefit streamers. Our encoding quality has jumped dramatically—users can expect up to 20% higher V-math quality scores when using H.264 at 6000 kilobits per second compared to our previous generation.
Optimizations in Compute Units
The new compute units include several key improvements over RDNA 3. The biggest change is a new memory request handling system that lets work flow more efficiently through complex shading tasks in modern games. We’ve also enhanced register storage with dynamic allocation techniques that boost efficiency.
We added dedicated engines to speed up register block moves, making function calls faster for modern shading languages. The instruction set of our scalar units has been extended too, which lets our compiler schedule more work on these units for better performance and lower power usage.
Key Compute Unit Improvements:
- New memory request architecture
- Dynamic register allocation
- Dedicated engines for register block moves
- Extended scalar unit instruction set
These changes make our compute units the most capable we’ve ever shipped in consumer hardware, and the performance results reflect that improvement.
Advances in Memory Interface Efficiency
Memory interface efficiency was a major focus area for RDNA 4. We completely reworked our approach to memory handling to maximize throughput while maintaining energy efficiency. The compression algorithms have been enhanced to reduce bandwidth requirements without sacrificing visual quality.
Our philosophy embraces all rendering techniques that developers might use. Whether a game uses fast approximations to global illumination with compute shaders or leverages our advanced ray tracing for higher quality, RDNA 4 adapts to deliver great performance.
We attacked ray tracing performance at all levels. The architecture now traces more rays more quickly, with hard acceleration for the most demanding ray tracing operations. This makes RDNA 4 significantly more capable at handling the complex lighting calculations required by modern games.
AMD Radiance Display and Media Engine Advancements
The AMD Radiance Display Engine brings key upgrades with RDNA 4 architecture. These improvements focus on better visual quality and smoother streaming capabilities for gamers and content creators alike.
For streamers, encoding quality has seen major improvements. When using H.264 encoding at 6000 kilobits per second, RDNA 4 delivers up to 20% higher V-math quality scores compared to previous generation hardware. This means cleaner, more professional-looking streams on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Discord.
The Media Engine now supports enhanced encoding across multiple formats:
- H.264: Better quality at same bitrates
- H.265: Improved efficiency for high-resolution content
- AV1: Advanced encoding support for next-gen streaming
These improvements address direct feedback from the streaming community who wanted better encoding quality without sacrificing performance. The updated display technology also handles memory requests more efficiently, making both gaming and content creation smoother experiences.
AMD has optimized the entire rendering pipeline from front to back. This includes an enhanced command processor that handles application commands more quickly, updated compute units for more efficient shading, and improved memory compression techniques.
The display improvements complement the doubled ray tracing performance and enhanced ML capabilities, creating a more complete visual package for gamers who want both high performance and high quality visuals in their games.
The Future of Gaming Graphics with RDNA 4
AMD’s RDNA 4 architecture represents the most powerful gaming graphics technology the company has ever created. The new design targets every part of the rendering pipeline with significant improvements to make games run faster and smoother than before.
The updated compute units in RDNA 4 bring major efficiency gains for shading compared to previous generations. A completely redesigned memory request system helps work flow more smoothly through complex modern games. The architecture also features dynamic register allocation and dedicated engines that speed up function calls in modern shading languages.
Ray tracing performance has doubled in RDNA 4, with AI and machine learning capabilities seeing even larger improvements. AMD took a comprehensive approach to ray tracing enhancements:
- Faster ray tracing hardware
- More rays processed per second
- Advanced acceleration structures
For content creators and streamers, RDNA 4 delivers major encoding improvements. The updated media engine provides up to 20% higher quality scores when using H.264 at 6000 kbps compared to the previous generation. Improvements extend across H.264, H.265, and AV1 formats, benefiting users on platforms like Twitch, YouTube, and Discord.
AMD designed RDNA 4 to support all modern rendering techniques. Whether games use compute shaders for approximated global illumination or full ray tracing for maximum quality, the architecture adapts to deliver strong performance.
The enhanced AMD Radiance Display Engine brings visual upgrades beyond raw performance. Combined with extended instruction sets for scalar units, these improvements make RDNA 4 compute units the most capable ever shipped in AMD’s consumer hardware.
