AMD is expected to launch its next-generation RDNA 4 GPU architecture in 2024. It's a highly anticipated event as RDNA 3 was the company's first chiplet-based GPU, so it'll be interesting to see if it sticks to its guns or returns to a monolithic design. However, recent reports have stated AMD will only launch midrange GPUs for RDNA 4 as it plans to use its really big chips for AI accelerators, where the profit margins are much higher. Now, new information alleges this is indeed AMD's plan and gives us an idea of how these GPUs will compare with RDNA 3.
The new information, if you can call it that, is from a post on X by an account named All_The_Watts. This account posted an emoji-filled riddle about RDNA 4, indicating two dies in the pipeline. The two dies are named Navi 48 and Navi 44, both indicative of midrange parts for AMD. Typically, the lower the number with AMD, the bigger the die. For RDNA 3, the biggest die is Navi 31, followed by the smaller Navi 32, Navi 33, etc. Since there's no mention of a Navi 41 die, it's possible such a thing does not exist.
Tweet (opens in a new tab)
According to Wccftech's translation of the emoji puzzle, the Navi 48 die is the top-shelf offering and will land below the Navi 31 die used on the Radeon RX 7900 XTX. However, it will still rank above the recently launched Radeon 7900 GRE (Golden Rabbit Edition), which features a drastically cut-down Navi 31 die. That GPU is aimed at 1440p gaming, so it would make sense that this resolution is at the high end of what AMD is targeting for RDNA 4. This GPU will likely perform similarly to the Radeon RX 7900 XT.
The other die is Navi 44, which is reportedly faster than the company's entry-level GPU, the Radeon RX 7600. However, it will be slower than the 7800 XT and 7700 XT cards. That would likely mean this GPU will land somewhere between the 7700 and 7800, give or take a few frames here and there. Therefore, it can be assumed that this is a 1080p GPU, meaning that AMD will only be targeting two distinct resolutions with two classes of GPUs.
The leaker states that these midrange GPUs will be monolithic designs, which is common for a midrange AMD card, and will feature GDDR6 memory. If that pans out, it would seem AMD is going the extra mile to produce affordable cards, as GDDR7 memory will undoubtedly be expensive.
