AMD’s New RX 8800 Might Exceed Expectations

The anticipation surrounding AMD’s upcoming generation of graphics cards has been a lesson in expectations management. Initial leaks regarding RDNA 4 hinted at an exceptionally powerful flagship GPU, but it has become apparent over the past few months that AMD is not pursuing that route. Rather, the focus seems to be on catering to the mainstream market, likely targeting GPUs that could compete with the RTX 4070. However, it seems the next-gen flagship may be more potent than we initially believed. We have gained insights into which GPUs are on the horizon and when we can expect their debut.

Let’s discuss the timing first. Jack Huynh, AMD’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Computing & Graphics, announced on X (formerly Twitter) that the company plans to hold a press conference during CES 2025.

This announcement aligns with ongoing speculation about a GPU reveal at the event, but we now have a specific date: January 6 at 11 AM PT. Huynh also indicated that AMD will showcase a “new generation of innovation across gaming, AI for PCs, and commercial applications.” It’s also likely that AMD will cover RDNA 4 developments for laptops and unveil new processors like the Ryzen 9000X3D series, which includes both 12-core and 16-core models.

Save the date 🗓️

Join us for the @AMD Press Event on Monday, January 6, at 11 AM PT.

Excited to share the stage with some incredible special guests as we unveil our next generation of innovation across gaming, AI PC, and commercial. You won’t want to miss it! 🎮💻✨

Catch the… pic.twitter.com/IadsTDZfTx

— Jack Huynh (@JackMHuynh) December 3, 2024

In a stroke of good fortune, AMD has also indirectly confirmed two GPUs expected to debut at the event. According to findings shared by VideoCardz, references to the RX 8800 and RX 8600 graphics cards surfaced in updates for AMD’s ROCm software library.

This aligns with earlier leaks indicating that AMD’s next-gen offerings will include a flagship Navi48 GPU alongside a budget-friendly Navi44 variant, which are likely the two cards mentioned. While this information isn’t official, it seems quite plausible that we can expect the RX 8800 and RX 8600 to arrive in January or soon after. There are also rumors of an RX 8800 XT variant based on inputs from Seasonic’s power consumption calculator.

Recently, additional leaks have provided insight into the anticipated performance levels of the RX 8800 (with or without the XT label), and the projections are promising. A prominent leaker, known as zhangzhonghao, shared on Chiphell (via VideoCardz), that the RX 8800 XT aims to make significant advancements in ray tracing capabilities.

It’s believed that the GPU will deliver performance comparable to Nvidia’s RTX 4080, which is priced around $1,000, especially in the popular game Resident Evil 7 Biohazard. Reports suggest ray tracing performance could be as much as 45% better than that of the RX 7900 XTX. Additionally, it has been suggested that the RX 8800 XT could require about 25% less power than the current flagship model, potentially optimizing power consumption to around 270 watts.

Increased performance with reduced power requirements sounds favorable for consumers. However, much will hinge on the pricing strategy for the GPU. More specifics are expected to surface during AMD’s press conference in January.