New rumour says AMD has scrapped high-end RDNA 4-based Radeon RX 8000 graphics cards altogether

A recent leak confirmed the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT's specifications in its entirety. The Navi 32-based graphics card appears to be only marginally better than its predecessor. Those looking forward to the next generation of AMD GPUs (RDNA 4) for performance gains will be disappointed to know that it will not feature a flagship-tier product, effectively circling back to the first-generation RDNA.

Multiple industry insiders (@Kepler_L2, @uzzi28) have confirmed that AMD does not intend to release high-end RDNA 4 graphics cards. Another leaker, @All_the_watts, says only SKUs featuring the Navi 43 and Navi 44 GPUs will be launched. These will likely end up in cards like the Radeon RX 8700 XT (tentative) and mobile parts. While it is far too early to speculate anything about RDNA 4. After all, it is over a year away from launch. The decision likely stems from abysmal RDNA 3 sales and lack of availability at TSMC's cutting-edge nodes, all of which appear to have been lapped up by Apple.

This new information effectively nullifies earlier rumours about Navi 41 being up to 2x faster than Navi 31. The "up to 60% performance-per-watt" claim could still hold, and one can only hope that it can keep up with Team Green's RTX 5000 offerings, which aren't due to hit shelves until 2025. Whether or not AMD chooses to use an MCM design or monolithic die remains to be seen. It'll probably be a mix of both, depending on the model. The only saving grace (if one can even call it that) is that they'll come with AMD's integrated AI accelerator.

The cancellation of high-end Radeon RX 8000 graphics cards will be problematic for the market overall. With Intel lagging miles behind the rest, Nvidia will be the only option for high-performance graphics cards. Twitter user Sebastian Castellanos posted a satirical (albeit grim) SKU list of Blackwell offerings, and that could very well be the future if AMD decides to skip the high-end market.

Buy the Sapphire Nitro AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX on Amazon