The launch of the brand new AMD Navi graphics cards is lastly beginning to come into focus now, as AMD have simply launched particulars about what they’ll be saying at this 12 months’s E3. We already know that the primary AMD Navi GPU is predicted to reach someday between July-September due to AMD’s current earnings name, nevertheless it’s seemingly we’ll get our first glimpse of what AMD’s Navi playing cards have in retailer for us on Monday June 10 at AMD’s Next Horizon Gaming occasion. Here’s every thing we all know up to now.
AMD Navi: what’s it?
Navi is the present code title for AMD’s subsequent technology of graphics playing cards. Set to exchange AMD’s present Radeon RX Vega playing cards, Navi will use a 7nm manufacturing course of, in addition to characteristic a brand-new GPU structure, which can hopefully make them extra environment friendly (and subsequently highly effective) than AMD’s present gen graphics playing cards.
Navi may also include what’s at present being known as ‘Next Gen Memory’, however whether or not that’s GDDR6 reminiscence, the following iteration of HBM2 (High Bandwidth Memory 2) that’s at present in AMD’s Vega playing cards or one thing else totally, no person is aware of.
What we do know, nonetheless, is that Navi will help ray tracing, the flowery new lighting tech at present the new matter of the day over on the brand new crop of Nvidia RTX playing cards. Teased again at GDC with a Radeon RX Vega 56-powered ray tracing demo and confirmed final month by way of Wired’s PlayStation 5 exclusive (which can use a customized variant of one in all AMD’s Navi GPUs), the truth that AMD’s Navi playing cards will certainly help ray tracing tells us numerous issues – and that can assist you separate most likely seemingly info from clearly made-up fiction, I’ve put every thing we find out about them up to now into one helpful information.
AMD Navi launch date
At one level, Navi was presupposed to arrive by the tip of 2018. But then the 14nm model of Vega acquired pushed again (the Vega 56 and 64), which in flip bumped again the 7nm model of Vega. The latter lastly got here out earlier this 12 months – see our Radeon 7 review for more information – nevertheless it additionally means this continuous shuffling again of launch dates has triggered additional delays to the launch of AMD’s 7nm Navi GPUs.
Finally, nonetheless, we now know that the primary AMD Navi card will arrive someday between July-September 2019, as AMD prime girl Dr Lisa Su confirmed to buyers on the finish of April (as transcribed by Seeking Alpha) that “[AMD] expect to introduce our first 7-nanometer Navi gaming GPUs in the third quarter.”
Precisely when it would launch in that window, no person is aware of but. What we do know, nonetheless, is that we’ll seemingly get our first glimpse of them, in addition to that every one necessary launch date at E3 2019, as AMD have introduced they’ll be internet hosting a livestreamed “Next Horizon Gaming” occasion on Monday June 10 at 3pm PT (or 11pm within the UK).
There, AMD will likely be unveiling their “next generation of AMD gaming products that will shape the future of PC, console and cloud gaming for years to come”. They’ll even be showcasing “never-before-seen content” from a few of this 12 months’s most anticipated new games, too, which can nearly definitely contain a little bit of ray tracing, I’d think about, in addition to different AMD-exclusive bits of tech to make issues look additional shiny.
While we’ll have to attend till June 10 for correct affirmation of AMD’s Navi launch date, the different massive hearsay at present doing the rounds is that they’ll launch on July 7 (or 7/7, in case you wanted an excellent deeper tie to their 7nm manufacturing course of). This most likely makes fairly a little bit of sense, because it’s a) not that lengthy after E3 ends, and b) AMD did an analogous factor with their Radeon 7 launch earlier within the 12 months, utilizing CES originally of January to unveil it earlier than launching it a month later firstly of February.
Only time will inform, after all, however hopefully we gained’t have to attend too lengthy earlier than we discover out.
AMD Navi specs: is it going to be definitely worth the wait?
Of course, for these after the best graphics card potential, it’s all been a bit irritating. Indeed, as highly effective because the Radeon 7 is, it’s nonetheless not fairly the equal of Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 – particularly when you keep in mind the RTX 2080’s fancy, performance-boosting DLSS tech as effectively.
However, the truth that AMD’s Navi graphics playing cards may also undoubtedly help ray tracing tells us numerous issues. For instance, we’ve already seen how a lot of a toll ray tracing takes on the efficiency of Nvidia’s RTX graphics playing cards when their proprietary DLSS tech isn’t enabled, and AMD have instructed me themselves {that a} DLSS-esque expertise for Navi isn’t actually on the playing cards for them. That means they’re going to should be fairly rattling highly effective to do it correctly with out taking a large hit on the outdated body charge.
“Our priority is going to be looking at SMAA and TAA [anti-aliasing techniques] and not proprietary technologies,” an AMD spokesperson instructed me throughout a briefing for the Radeon 7. “For us, it’s about enabling technology across all three verticals [PC, console and cloud gaming] and ensuring the end user experience is going to be great across all three. DLSS is a proprietary technology supported in only a small number of PC games. SMAA and TAA offer a superior combination of image quality and performance that’s free of the harsh sharpening of DLSS.”
Fighting phrases, these, nevertheless it means that AMD’s extra involved about delivering some severe uncooked horsepower (which would definitely tally with the way in which they introduced the Radeon 7) as a substitute of counting on AI to select up the slack.
Then once more, different hearsay sleuths paint a way more modest image of Navi’s spec capabilities. Indeed, WCCFTech assume there will likely be three totally different Navi playing cards launching this 12 months – the RX 3080, RX 3070 and RX 3060 – which can match the RTX 2070, RTX 2060 and GTX 1660 respectively. Tweaktown, in the meantime, are betting the top-end one will likely be across the RTX 2080 once more.
Personally, I don’t assume it makes a lot sense to have a next-gen Navi card that’s simply as highly effective because the just lately launched Radeon 7, as a result of in any other case what’s the purpose of the Radeon 7? I additionally miss out on the logic of releasing three new next-gen Navi playing cards and nonetheless having the old-gen Vega-based Radeon 7 sitting proper on the prime, as a result of that additionally doesn’t communicate a lot to the so-called energy of Navi.
AMD Navi value: how a lot are they going to value?
The key piece of the puzzle we’re lacking proper now’s value. If WCCFTech’s data is to be believed, the highest RTX 2070-level Navi card may value as little as $249, in accordance with their mysterious sources, whereas the GTX 1660 rival is at present rumoured to value simply $129. I extremely doubt that may find yourself being the case, to be trustworthy, particularly if Nvidia’s present pricing is something to go by, however who is aware of – perhaps a little bit of competitors out there is simply what we have to shunt every thing again down once more after Nvidia’s months and months of graphic card dominance.
Still, I anticipate every Navi card will value significantly greater than both of these rumoured costs, however we’ll most likely solely get correct affirmation as soon as AMD’s formally introduced them – which hopefully gained’t be an excessive amount of longer if an E3 2019 reveal proves to be appropriate. I’ll convey you extra as I get it.
