AMD’s next-gen driver progress makes us hopeful RDNA 4 GPUs could arrive sooner than we thought

AMD’s graphics driver for its incoming RDNA 4 graphics cards is apparently more or less ready for action, or at least the Linux flavor is.

Phoronix.com reports that ‘GFX12’ (RDNA 4) graphics driver support is in “good shape” and that AMD is enabling the driver right ‘out of the box’ (by default) with the latest patches for Linux.

In other words, progress with the driver for what should be RX 8000 series graphics cards is coming on well. In fact, this is a major milestone towards the finish line for RDNA 4 graphics (in Linux), although AMD will doubtless still need to apply further tweaking and optimization for its driver down the line.

As has been widely rumored at this point, RDNA 4 graphics cards (Navi 48 and 44) are expected to top out at the mid-range, so the fastest GPU will only be equivalent to the current flagship RX 7900 XTX (or maybe just shy of that performance) – it’ll just cost a lot less.

Analysis: RDNA 4 still on for 2024?

The Linux driver coming through nicely is a hint that perhaps the RX 8000 family of desktop GPUs might be landing a bit earlier than we thought. Most of the recent rumors seem to be pointing towards a CES 2025 launch for RDNA 4, meaning that the graphics cards probably won’t arrive until a couple of months after.

However, there’s still some theorizing that a late 2024 release might still be in the cards – which was previously the broad belief for those in the loop of the rumor mill – and this Linux development represents a glimmer of hope that this might still be the case.

That said, AMD may be playing a waiting game to sell off more RX 7000 stock, and could keep RDNA 4 on hold even when it’s ready to roll. We can’t dismiss that possibility, though anecdotally, some folks are observing that some current-gen RDNA 3 GPUs seem to be running thin on inventory already (add plentiful seasoning with that, though).

We can’t wait for RDNA 4 because even though AMD is reining in its performance ambitions with these next-gen GPUs, we’re hoping that forces Team Red to use another tactic to get PC gamers to sit up and take notice of RX 8000. Namely by offering a great value proposition, with some tempting prices for what’ll be relatively powerful mid-range offerings.

Everyone who’s sick of the constant notching up of the prices of the best graphics cards will be hoping and praying for this outcome, we’re sure.

Via VideoCardz

Source: www.techradar.com