AMD will release Navi refresh and video cards based on RDNA2 . this year
AMD will release both a refresh of its Navi cards this year and products based on the RDNA2 architecture. The current Navi maps are based on the first RDNA generation. AMD previously announced that the RDNA2 cards will receive hardware for ray tracing.
AMD CEO Lisa Su gave details about the upcoming video cards during a conference call on Tuesday’s quarterly figures presented. A transcript of this can be read at Seeking Alpha. Su says we can expect the first generation of Navi maps to get a refresh this year. She also reports that products with the next generation of the RDNA architecture will be part of the lineup in 2020.
Perhaps this means that AMD will release high-end video cards based on RDNA2 and will come with a refresh of the Navi cards for the lower segment. The company has previously adopted a similar strategy with its Polaris and Vega GPUs. It is not yet known when the new video cards will be released. Su does say that AMD will announce more details during its Financial Analyst Day on March 5.
AMD gave a small glimpse of the future when it announced the RDNA architecture last year. The manufacturer then said that a next generation will receive hardware support for ray tracing. It is also already known that the Xbox Series X will use a modified GPU based on the RDNA2 architecture. Sony also uses a Navi GPU with support for ray tracing in its PlayStation 5, but AMD and Sony have never specifically said on which version of the architecture the GPU is based.
AMD’s fourth quarter 2019 revenue reached $2.13 billion, up 50 percent from the year-ago quarter. Net profit was $170 million, up 347 percent from last year. The Computing and Graphics segment, which includes Ryzen CPUs and Radeon GPUs, had revenue of $1.66 billion in the fourth quarter. A year earlier, that was $986 million. For the whole of 2019, AMD achieved revenue of $6.73 billion, 4 percent more than in 2018. Net profit was $341 million, 1 percent more than a year earlier.