It's been all quiet on the GPU front for a little bit, and we're all wondering what is up with next-gen GPUs from AMD and Nvidia. Both companies would typically launch their new GPU families later this year in keeping with their typical two-year cadence, but all bets seem to be off for Blackwell and RDNA 4. Nvidia might launch one new GPU this year—the RTX 5080—and now a new rumor states AMD will hold off until CES 2025 to announce some of its newest GPUs, which is a bit strange given how strictly it's followed a two-year cycle in the past.
The latest rumors about AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 GPUs pointed to two distinct dies this time: Navi 44 and Navi 48. Of the two dies AMD is expected to offer, Navi 48 is the higher-end die, with Navi 44 being entry-level and midrange. According to respected hardware leaker @Kepler on X, AMD will come to market with the high-end Navi 48 GPUs at CES 2025, then follow up with entry-level 1080p GPUs using the Navi 44 die sometime in Q2. This launch strategy mirrors AMD's strategy with RDNA 3, launching the high-end 7900-series GPUs in November 2022, followed by the Radeon 7600 in May 2023. It finalized the lineup with the 7800 and 7700 GPUs in August 2023. There was also a Radeon 7900 GRE this year as well.
AMD has been rumored to be forgoing the high-end GPU market with RDNA 4, as the company reportedly wants to use its biggest dies from TSMC for its Instinct accelerators where profit margins are higher. AMD also had a monstrous flagship GPU for testing that offered up to 20 chiplets before it was allegedly cancelled. Therefore, there are many questions about just how powerful Navi 48 is and whether it'll be any faster than the existing 7900 XTX flagship. It's also unknown whether Navi 48 will offer a chiplet design like the Navi 31 die it's replacing.
The move to just two dies for RDNA 4 is also a change from RDNA 3, as it currently offers three dies: Navi 31, 32, and 33. However, AMD is apparently looking to have its two dies cover the same ground as the current three. Navi 48 will be for its high-end cards, such as the 7900 and 7800 series, while Navi 44 will cover the low-end and midrange, such as the 7600 and 7700 cards. That's what seems to be the case, but we won't know until later this year when, hopefully, more solid leaks arrive.
We're also waiting to see what Nvidia will do with its upcoming Blackwell GPU lineup, as it's launching the data center version this year, so it seems likely it'll launch at least one GeForce card. The latest rumors are that it will lead with the RTX 5080, then follow that up with the 5090 in 2025, and perhaps also at CES, just to rain on AMD's parade. While Nvidia is heavily rumored to be upgrading to GDDR7 across the GeForce Blackwell family, AMD is expected to stick with GDDR6 memory, highlighting its focus for next-gen on price-to-performance instead of halo-tier products.
