RDNA 4 is officially the new graphics architecture en route from AMD, destined to power GPUs across its upcoming Radeon RX 9070 Series. While the first products aren’t ready for primetime yet, they should hit the scene at some point during Q1 2025. Better still, the next iteration of the FidelityFX Super Resolution, FSR 4, will follow suit with machine learning smarts in tow.
The amount of detail AMD offers for each product category varies, but there’s still lots to chew on from this CES 2025 preview.
RDNA 4
At the heart of AMD’s GPU plans for 2025 is RDNA 4. This architecture promises a variety of generational upgrades from RDNA 3, in addition to more-advanced and efficient designs courtesy of TSMC’s 4nm process.
AMD adopts a non-descript approach in highlighting RDNA 4’s core changes and improvements. The company will undoubtedly have more to share in the coming months, but a new generation of ray accelerators should hopefully net sizeable performance uplifts.
| RDNA 4 | RDNA 3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Process | 4nm | 5/6nm |
| AI accelerators | 2nd Gen. | 1st Gen. |
| Ray accelerators | 3rd Gen. | 2nd Gen. |
| Display Engine | 2nd Gen. | 1st Gen. |
Given FSR 4 will employ machine learning in its upscaling, the first iteration of the software to do so, I’m curious to see how much of a part AMD’s second generation AI accelerators have to play in its success. That’s not forgetting the benefits they should offer other workloads that work in tandem with artificial intelligence.
Radeon RX 9070 & RX 9060
AMD is adopting a different approach to its desktop Radeon graphics this time around with a families of cards that evoke memories RDNA’s debut. Introducing, Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9060 Series.
No, those aren’t typos. AMD is skipping a would-be Radeon 8000 Series altogether in favour of creating parallels with its Ryzen 9000 Series branding. The company is also amending its model system to match competitors (read: Nvidia), hence the change to 9070 rather than 9700.
There are sadly no specifications or pricing accompanying the announcement of these graphics cards. However, AMD should reveal more about Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070 soon as they’re due to launch in Q1 2025 with Radeon RX 9600 Series models following some time after.
In lieu of benchmarks, AMD has tried to contextualise how each Radeon 9000 Series family should perform with comparisons to current generation stock. However, these estimates aren’t much help at all.
According to AMD, Radeon RX 9070 Series cards performance akin to Radeon RX 7900 XT at their best. Meanwhile, Radeon RX 9060 Series is broadly comparable to Radeon RX 7800 XT and Radeon RX 7700 XT at the high-end. I am concerned that a potential Radeon RX 9060 won’t punch that much harder than Radeon RX 7600 XT based on AMD’s ballpark positioning.
Here’s hoping there’s more nuance to these comparisons than this graph can illustrate. After all, there’s new, faster competition to consider in the form of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50 Series.
FSR 4
FSR 4 could be a game-changing addition to AMD’s arsenal, as the company is finally catching up to its peers and embracing machine learning for the purposes of upscaling. In theory, this should greatly improve the image quality of FSR relative to the likes of DLSS and XeSS.
Other specifics about the technology are in short supply, unfortunately. For example, AMD hasn’t clarified whether its Frame Generation solution will also benefit from machine learning or if it will continue with is current approach.
Most curious of all though is the question of compatibility. AMD says FSR 4 is “developed for RDNA 4”, possibly hinting at exclusivity. I sincerely hope it doesn’t leave owners Radeon RX 6000 and 7000 Series owners out in the cold but we’ll need to wait for further details.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be one of the first games to sport FSR 4 but there’s no exact date to look forward to yet.
Ryzen Z2 Series
AMD aims to maintain its dominant position in the handheld space with its new flagship APU series: Ryzen Z2. In addition to base and ‘Extreme’ SKUs, each of which serve as successors to existing stock, the company is also introducing a more cutdown design with ‘Z2 Go’.
Unlike AMD’s upcoming desktop graphics offerings, Ryzen Z2 Series will continue to leverage the company’s RDNA 3 architecture. However, the floor and ceiling of GPU cores is rising from the prior generation to 12 and 16, respectively.
The only other notable broad change is a narrower cTDP range between 15-35W, compared to the 8-30W of Z1 Series. I can only presume that AMD is confident that it can deliver better if not similar battery life despite the higher base wattage.
| Ryzen Z2 Extreme | Ryzen Z2 | Ryzen Z2 Go | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cores | 8 | 8 | 4 |
| Threads | 16 | 16 | 8 |
| Max. boost clock | 5.0GHz | 5.1GHz | 4.3GHz |
| Cache | 24MB | 24MB | 10MB |
| cTDP | 15-35W | 15-30W | 15-30W |
| Graphics cores | 16 | 12 | 12 |
AMD confirms that Ryzen Z2 Series processors will feature in upcoming handhelds from the likes Asus, Lenovo, and Valve. Which SKUs end up in prospective ROG Ally and Legion Go is unclear, but a Valve coder states there’s no such thing as a Steam Deck with AMD Z2 inside. This makes sense when considering the original and OLED model both feature a custom model developed alongside AMD instead. Regardless, there’s plenty to look forward to.
While Ryzen Z2 Series APUs should deliver some welcome performance gains on their predecessors, I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little disappointed at the lack of RDNA 4 here. I also find the need for Ryzen Z2 Go curious given its relatively low core count but here’s hoping for some budget devices that punch well above their weight.
Alongside all these graphics-related announcements, AMD has also pulled back the curtain on other offerings. There are new Ryzen 9000X3D processors on the way to desktop and mobile devices, alongside the debut of its Ryzen AI Max+ Series of mobile chips. For everything else CES 2025, make sure you’re following Club386 on Google News to stay in the know.
