Skip to main content

AMD’s next budget GPU may be a killer card — here’s why

The release of AMD’s Radeon RX 7000 graphics cards is still a while away, but we’re already hearing rumors about the performance and power requirements of these next-gen graphics cards.

Today, a known leaker has teased that even entry-level AMD RX 7000 GPUs may be capable of outperforming the current-gen flagship, the RX 6900 XT. As a cherry on top, new AMD graphics cards could be a lot less power-hungry than the upcoming Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 GPUs.

Compared to FP32 alone, navi33 is theoretically possible to be higher than 6900XT, which can reach 22.9T at 2.8ghz.For power consumption, 220-250W is what I think is ideal.🤔

— Greymon55 (@greymon55) March 15, 2022

The information comes from Greymon55, a leaker with a good track record when it comes to PC hardware. Even though Greymon has been accurate in the past, it’s best to take these rumors with a grain of salt, because they are exactly that — rumors, at least until AMD tells us more about its plans for the RX 7000 GPU line.

According to Greymon, the upcoming Navi 33 GPU may be able to outperform even high-end Navi 21 graphics cards, such as the RX 6900 XT — and this applies even to more budget-friendly versions of the card. If AMD retains the current naming scheme, this could mean that potentially, a Radeon RX 7700 XT could beat the current-gen RX 6900 XT in terms of pure performance.

Greymon bases this rumor on FP32 testing, which describes how many calculations the chip can perform per second. According to the leaker, the RX 6900 XT can hit 22.9 teraflops (TFLOPs) when clocked at 2.80GHz. This implies the card would have to be overclocked to reach such frequencies, as the regular boost clock for that GPU is 2.25GHz. Greymon implies that the Navi 33 GPU should be capable of hitting higher TFLOP counts, or at least a similar level. If proven true, this would mean that a high-end GPU from the previous generation would become outclassed by a mid-range offering from the current generation when the RX 7000-series launches.

AMD's RX 6900 XT graphics card.
AMD

The high expectations for the RX 7000-series graphics cards don’t end there. Greymon also stated that an expected power consumption level for such a GPU would be in the 220 to 250 watts range. Considering that the current flagship RX 6900 XT has a TGP of 300 watts, this implies great things for the upcoming GPUs. If the leak proves to be true, the card could be capable of hitting high performance while keeping power consumption at a reasonable level.

Reasonable power requirements would help AMD compete with Nvidia’s upcoming RTX 4000 “Ada” GPUs. Of course, we’re still in the rumor stages, but there have been signs that especially the flagship RTX 4090 may be extremely power-hungry, reaching as high as a TGP of 850 watts. Even if we slice that in half, AMD could be the winner in this regard if it maintains the aforementioned low power requirements on its flagship GPU.

Editors' Recommendations

Monica J. White
Monica is a UK-based freelance writer and self-proclaimed geek. A firm believer in the "PC building is just like expensive…
Why AMD’s biggest competitor is no longer Nvidia
AMD RX 7800 XT and RX 7700 XT graphics cards.

Both AMD and Nvidia make some of the best graphics cards, which, naturally, puts these two companies in a position where they're always competing. It's not just any old rivalry, though. AMD is the constant underdog, and Nvidia is the market leader that always comes out on top in some way.

But is Nvidia truly the one that AMD is competing against? No, not really. In fact, the fiercest competition for AMD's RDNA 3 graphics cards comes from AMD itself. Here's why that's bad news for the GPU maker.
A skip, not a leap

Read more
AMD has another new GPU that it says can beat the RTX 4060 Ti
The Gigabyte RX 6750 GRE graphics card over a dark background.

A new RDNA 2 GPU in 2023? While it sounds unlikely, it's true. MSI has just introduced a few prebuilt gaming desktops equipped with various AMD processors and graphics cards, and one of them is the previously unreleased Radeon RX 6750 GRE, which stands for "Golden Rabbit Edition." While it may not rival some of the best GPUs, rumor has it that it'll at least beat Nvidia's RTX 4060 Ti while being just a little pricier than the RTX 4060.

Gigabyte has actually beaten MSI to the punch with the announcement, having revealed its own RX 6750 GRE graphics card first. However, while the Gigabyte GPU is set to be released on October 18, MSI already has a bunch of desktops up for grabs, although we're not seeing a DIY card that you could put into your own system. It just comes as part of MSI's prebuilts, which were first spotted by ITHome and later shared by VideoCardz.

Read more
Someone tweaked AMD’s RX 7800 XT, and the results may surprise you
YouTube channel Techtesters reviewing an underclocked AMD RX 7800 XT graphics card.

AMD’s RX 7800 XT graphics card handily beats Nvidia’s RTX 4070, outperforming it in games and costing less to boot, with the GPU comparison falling firmly in AMD’s favor. The main drawback? Its power consumption is much higher. But it doesn’t have to be that way, as one YouTube channel has shown that undervolting the card could have a notable impact.

When set up right out of the box, AMD’s card has a power draw of 263 watts, while Nvidia’s offering sips just 200 watts. If you’re concerned about your graphics card getting hot and heavy in operation -- and spiking your electricity bill -- the RTX 4070 is probably the better choice.

Read more