Radeon 8800: Can AMD's next-gen GPUs compete?

With its new RDNA 4-based Radeon 800 series, is AMD going to give PC builders and upgraders a reason to skip the RTX 50 line?

So NVIDIA is dominating the discussion around next-gen GPUs with its upcoming Blackwell cards set to debut at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. But new cards from the red team should also be landing imminently. And although AMD isn't targeting the super-high end anymore, that doesn't mean you should ignore the upcoming RDNA4 generation. Let's jump into what we know so far.

0:00 Intro
0:28 Performance Basics
2:42 Navi 48 & 44: The Facts
4:27 Radeon 8000 Series Specs
7:09 Release Date & Price

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[amirulizzat]

I never knew xda covers more than smartphones lol

[BenWillock]

Moore'sLawIsDead had a recent podcast covering the reasons, but the TL;DR is that big RDNA 4 was cancelled in favour of going all-in with the next gen UDNA parts that can be dual-used for both consumer desktop and business applications. Basically, RDNA 4 is a stopgap, and the big cards will be back in 2027 or whenever.

[ShivamYadav-rxhy]

If it gives 100 fps with RT 1440p, I m jumping ship

[andrescarrasco]

Will this fits well in my plans of never spending more than $500 on a GPU, if you can afford $2000 for basically the same experience I have but with ray tracing, good for you

[GTduzIt]

i want to know how the 8800xt compares to the 7900xt and xtx... I know it will be better than a 7800xt which is the best mid range card.

[dangychoice]

they dont need to, they can compete with Apple instead, with large APU with good idle efficiency and more VRAM than Nvidia wants to give

[VicharB]

If 8800XT is close to RTX 4080 and about 80% in RT for just USD 550ish, I am definitely upgrading my 3080Ti. But somehow I don't expect that pricing for such a card.

[Ignisan_]

I have a feeling RDNA 4 will flop hard. Because AMD never fails to miss an opportunity.

[movesmatter]

Of course they can compete but they normally don’t have cards in the same weight class as Nvidia’s top end.

NVIDIA needs them to compete so they have competition in the market. Intel has show us that it’s not easy to catch up to either of the companies. Showing us that AMD is still in fact moving forward just not putting in all their resources.

AMD competes in the GPU and CPU market so imo I don’t think anyone has a better full hardware stack than AMD in the gaming retail market.

[AndreiMorar]

4080 or slightly higher raster and RT performance for 500-600 USD/euros =instant buy

[leggysoft]

The reality is mainstream gamers do not buy GPUs based on specs, they simply buy the most expensive nvidia card they can afford, $300 $800 $3000 specs do not matter they're not informed consumers.

MILLIONS buy 8GB cards which say "ray tracing" and many think that's how it renders everything.

[k-vandan]

their HIP rendering still beta in blender I dont know in future anything will change but may be in 3 to 5 years.

[nathanl]

The lowest end possible cards are 1000 times more powerful than the most expensive cards you could buy a few years ago. People were spending thousands of dollars on cards that could barely perform the most basic tasks. That's what people who buy the highest end cards look like. Can't even wait a single year to get the same performance for half the price and half the power consumption.

[lflyr]

REALITY IS, that in rasterization, which is a classic and static rendering technique that all of the todays games still use and will use for at least a decade to come, that the :

RX 6800 XT 16GB > RTX 3080 Ti 12GB
RX 6900 XT 16GB > RTX 3090 24GB
RX 6950 XT 16GB > RTX 3090 Ti 24GB
RX 5700 XT 8GB > RTX 2080 Super 8GB (in Nvidias 2018 RTX launch title Battlefield V => one of multiple sources is Hardware Unboxed RX 5700 XT launch review)
RX 7900 XT 20GB > RTX 4080 16GB
RX 7900 XTX 24GB > RTX 4080 Super 16GB

AMD is more than competing, AMD is actually wining :).

[kkrolik]

Battlemage matching only AMD RX 7600, due higher model is canned. AMD RDNA4 RX 8800 45% higer RT performance than RX 7900XTX and matching in lighty RT games RTX 4080

[carrickdubya]

I think 5070 will perform like 4080 Super. So if 5070 is $600 like the 4070 Super, then it will be interesting to see what price is the 8800 xt. If $500 then YES to buy, but anything more and most will wait for the 5070. So AMD better think about getting the price right from the beginning and not screw up like the 7900XT did at $900

[chrissimao]

Is video really necessary? Most gamers don't purchase at the higher end (xx80-xx90) that is universally known.

[xBINARYGODx]

they are irrelevant until perhaps udna - unfortunately

[YourEx..]

People seems to think Navi 48 is worse than it is

[BastyTHz]

if 3.3G can only be par with 4080 then it is disappointment