AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Preview: New RDNA 4 Model Technique, FSR 4 AI Upscaling And Extra

On stage right now at CES, AMD introduced the primary main updates to its graphics IP since late 2022. That is proper of us: RDNA 4 is lastly arriving, and true to hypothesis, it seems to be squarely focusing on the middle of the market. The primary RDNA 4 GPU would be the Radeon RX 9070 XT, together with its barely slower “non-XT” sibling, and so they’re coming together with some very large characteristic updates, too.

For now, this is what we all know: the Radeon RX 9000 collection is altering up the branding whereas introducing the RDNA 4 structure, which arguably units the stage for future generations of Radeon GPUs. We’ll speak in regards to the branding in a second, however let’s go over what we all know thus far about RDNA 4.

AMD spoke to us in obscure phrases about its new GPU structure. We all know that it may have radically improved ray tracing efficiency, and that the place the AI accelerators on RDNA 3 went largely unused, the AI accelerators this time round are far more distinguished. The corporate additionally says that it has executed loads to enhance on its media engine; AMD’s video encoder is at all times a favourite space of criticism for fanboys.

Certainly, arguably a bit late to the celebration, AMD is absolutely embracing AI in its rendering pipeline with the brand new model of FidelityFX Tremendous Decision, or FSR. We had been promised this characteristic again in September, and at the moment we hypothesized that the brand new AI-powered FSR would seem at CES. Nicely, right here we’re, and right here it’s. It looks as if the expertise will debut within the newest Name of Obligation title, Black Ops 6.

A key caveat is that FSR4 was developed along with RDNA 4 and consequently it looks as if it’s only going to be suitable with the brand new playing cards. AMD particularly instructed us that it was developed for the brand new machine studying structure of RDNA 4, though the corporate didn’t explicitly say that the brand new tech cannot be used with, say, RDNA 3 GPUs. We’ll have to attend and see how that performs out.

One of many cooler apps {that a} GPU vendor has launched just lately is Intel’s AI Playground for its Arc GPUs. This can be a very handy instrument that permits house owners of discrete and built-in Arc GPUs to utilize native AI processing in a really direct and speedy method. Nicely, AMD apparently agreed, as a result of it will debut a instrument, apparently constructed into its driver software program, often called Adrenalin AI.

Utilizing Adrenalin AI, it is possible for you to to generate photos from textual content prompts, summarize paperwork you might have saved in your machine utilizing a locally-hosted LLM, and ask mentioned LLM questions on AMD merchandise and applied sciences. AMD says that the aim of this characteristic is to offer Radeon house owners a style of the AI capabilities of their shiny new GPU. We’re curious to see how helpful it truly is, although, particularly contemplating that the AI fashions in use will doubtless add a number of gigabytes to the already-bloated driver obtain. A separate app could be the smarter play right here, AMD.

We talked about that AMD is revising its branding this time round, and this is the slide explaining that. AMD is altering its Radeon branding for 2 causes: to synchronize with the Ryzen staff, and to make its GPUs look higher compared to NVIDIA’s. We tease, however it’s not totally a joke; AMD itself notes that it desires to simplify “direct competitor comparisons.” So, as a substitute of 9700 XT, we’ve the 9070 XT.

That branding does indicate that this is not the quickest GPU within the Radeon RX 9000 collection, however we would not maintain our breath ready for that top-end half as a result of from every little thing we have heard by means of the grapevine, such a GPU merely would not exist. AMD could attempt once more for the crown subsequent time round, however the aim this era is clearly to seize market share, not benchmark crowns within the flagship house.

On the time of this writing, earlier than the precise announcement, we do not have actually any particulars in any respect on the playing cards. On condition that that is marked down as a “preview,” AMD did not present any specs nor did the corporate give out any efficiency estimates because the Purple Staff is often so able to do. Hopefully that info comes out on stage; if that’s the case, we’ll replace this publish accordingly.