RTX 5080 Super-killer: AMD to release "stronger" RDNA 4 variants later this year
We reported a few days ago that AMD seems to be testing a high-end RX 9080 XT. Moore’s Law Is Dead has also claimed a potential release timeline for high-end/refreshed RDNA 4 cards, courtesy of information from some AIB and industry sources.
MLID claims to have heard from an AIB source that AMD might be refreshing its products later in 2025. There is also talk of Team Red releasing new Radeon GPUs for professionals with as much as 48 GB of VRAM.
Another AIB source learned from “AMD reps” that there will be “strong variants” of RDNA 4 later this year. While we don’t know what these “stronger” RDNA 4 SKUs could be, we can assume that the RX 9080 XT could be one of these cards.
So, what does this all mean?
For starters, AMD could be getting ready to plug the high-end/flagship-sized hole in the RDNA 4 GPU lineup. With an RTX 5080 Super-killer in the works, AMD stands to gain much in the gaming market, as Nvidia is reportedly cutting even more RTX 50 gaming supply to focus on the AI market. So, where gamers can’t easily buy the high-end/flagship RTX 50, a new RX 9080 XT could give them a viable alternative.
When the news broke in 2024 that AMD wouldn’t be releasing high-end/flagship GPUs to compete with the RTX 5080/5090, fans were left wondering about the possible reason. Some concluded that it was because AMD couldn’t get the purported Multi-Chip Module (MCM) RDNA 4 flagship to work. Others contended that it didn’t make business sense to compete in the segment where Nvidia had dominated for the past several generations.
However, there was another opinion: AMD could have felt that the software stack wasn’t mature enough to bring out the true potential of the high-end RDNA 4 GPUs.
Assuming it is the combination of the above reasons, now seems like a pretty good time to deliver a high-end/flagship grade RX 9000 GPU. AMD has mature GPU drivers for RDNA 4, arguably surpassing Nvidia’s efforts with the RTX 50 cards, excellent FSR 4, and exciting FSR Redstone in the works.
Source(s)
Moore's Law Is Dead, Teaser image: AMD, Thomas Heintz on Unsplash, edited
