Following suggestions from AMD that the launch of its RDNA 2 poweredRX 6000 Series graphics cards will have better supplythan Nvidia’s RTX 3090 and RTX 3080 launches, new information has leaked about the specifications that will make up the range. The leak contains information about the specifications of two of the expected three Navi GPUs.
The leak was put together by Reddit user stblr, who pieced together the details by reverse engineering information inAMD’sMacOS drivers, which means the information is likely to be far more reliable than a typical leak or rumor. The most awaited information concerns the Navi 21 GPU, otherwise known as the flagship “Big Navi,” which the leak states will have 80 compute units (CU). If the ratio remains the same as AMDs current cards, this means 5120 stream processors, each of which will have a boost clock of 2.2 GHz.
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In terms of outright performance, hardware site Wccftech calculates that 5120 stream processors and a boost clock of 2.2 GHz will equal 22.5 TFLOPS, which compares to 29.8 TFLOPS for the Nvidia RTX 3080, a gap of just over 32%. The mid-level Navi 22 GPU features half the CUs of Big Navi, meaning 2560 stream processors at the current ratio, but with a faster boost clock of 2.5 GHz. This is calculated to equal 12.8 TFLOPS of performance,very slightly more than the Xbox Series X, suggesting the GPU will cope well with 4K gaming.
While the leaked specifications for AMD’s Big Navi are clearlyshort of its target competitor, Nvidia’s RTX 3080, it is likely close enough to tempt gamers, especially given the 6 GB extra memory, and the likelihood that AMD will undercut on price. If AMD has increased the number of stream processors per compute unit, then the performance gap could be very small. The mid-level Navi 22 GPU will be competing with Nvidia’s RTX 3070 and potentially the RTX 3060, with its specs likely to fall somewhere in the middle.
Gamers hoping for cutting-edge performance from AMD may be a little disappointed by the specification leaks, although TFLOPS alone cannot fully estimate real world gaming performance. For gamers withoutthe budget for a RTX 3090 or 3080though, it shows that AMDs graphics cards should still offer competitive 4K performance. In particular, the mid-range Navi 22 offering just above Xbox Series X performance suggests a GPU that will truly meet AMDs desire to open up 4K gaming to the wider gaming audience.
Of course, the key detail that will determine how competitive the RX 6000 Series will be is still to be announced, how much the cards will cost. The presumption of most people is that what AMD lacks in outright performance, it will make up in strong value pricing, butgamers will find out more at the RDNA 2 announcement event on October 28.
