Skip to main content

AMD’s next superefficient GPUs could have Nvidia worried

Given the performance upgrades we’ve seen in recent years in regard to graphics cards, the battle between AMD and Nvidia’s upcoming next-gen GPUs is shaping up to be one of the most exciting times in tech in recent memory.

Lending credence to that theory is a new rumor outlining the technical differences between Team Red’s RTX 7000 cards and Nvidia’s RTX 4000-series.

An AMD RX 6500 XT with other graphics cards stacked up in the background.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

Efficiency and performance powerhouse?

Moore’s Law Is Dead, a technology YouTuber known for his insider information, revealed some interesting details regarding AMD and Nvidia’s next-gen plans in his video The Road to RDNA 3 & Lovelace.

Recommended Videos

The first segment of the video, titled The RDNA 3 lineup is unlike anything you’ve seen, suggests AMD “should just completely blow Lovelace out of the water when it comes to efficiency.” As a result, he speculates AMD’s upcoming video cards could even ultimately outperform Nvidia’s Ada series when it comes to overall performance.

To that end, Moore’s Law Is Dead further adds that RDNA 2 versus Ampere (the architectures the current-gen AMD and Nvidia GPUs are based on, respectively) saw AMD offering generally more efficient products compared to its rival’s offerings. However, in the case of RDNA 3 versus Lovelace, he stresses that Nvidia is facing a “real, true efficiency problem coming up” in a way it hasn’t experienced before.

Elsewhere, he mentions that the technology community could be overestimating Lovelace’s performance expectations. Although he admits the Nvidia RTX 40-series will offer a huge performance increase, one that is markedly larger than Ampere over Turing, Moore’s Law Is Dead reiterates the initial target of a 66% to 80% increase, as opposed to other estimates that indicate an even higher jump.

With this in mind, Moore’s Law Is Dead’s sources suggest that the estimates for AMD’s RDNA 3 performance upgrade is apparently higher than the expectations for Nvidia’s Lovelace.

More to the story?

While we always stress to not take rumors as fact, there may be some truth behind these claims. And this is where things start to get interesting: As reported by Wccftech, a leaked LinkedIn description deriving from an AMD principal member of technical staff appears to confirm that the RX 7000 series is based on RDNA 3, with a certain model utilizing two separate processes (TSMC 5nm and 6nm). Wccftech points out that this could indicate AMD is adopting a multi-chip module (MCM) approach for its future GPUs.

Wccftech also highlights how AMD has reinvigorated the CPU market and given Intel a run for its money via its MCM Ryzen processors. Should the LinkedIn description prove to be real, and AMD is indeed integrating an MCM design for its GPUs as well, then it could very well edge out Nvidia’s Lovelace boards, at least in regard to power efficiency.

The battle of next-gen

An Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card inside the Maingear Vybe.
Jacob Roach / Digital Trends

As for which next-gen GPUs will beat the other in terms of launch periods, Moore’s Law Is Dead reiterates the general consensus that Ada Lovelace (RTX 4000-series) is scheduled for a third-quarter release, while AMD is likely to introduce its RTX 7000 video cards a few months later during the fourth quarter.

Corroborating these claims when it comes to Team Green’s next-gen GPU road map is the fact that we’ve already heard that the RTX 4090 is on track to hit store shelves in September. Moore’s Law Is Dead has also heard from sources that Ada is “for the most part ready in its design now, but they’re not quite ready with the drivers and the segmentation to get it out there.”

Why the gap between the launch periods for both next-gen GPUs? Moore’s Law Is Dead stresses that RDNA 3 is “a more complex design, really a more ambitious design.”

Theoretically, those extra few months could therefore be enough to allow AMD to take the “efficiency and performance crown,” which is why the company “knows that this launch needs to be perfect.”

Before the battle of next-gen GPUs comes to fruition later in the year, we’ll see a taste of things to come in the form of Nvidia’s new flagship RTX 3090 Ti board going up against AMD’s Radeon RX 6950XT.

Nvidia may have edged out its main rival in 2021, but if the aforementioned video is anything to go by, AMD is adamant in its intention to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself moving forward.

Ultimately, regardless of whoever comes out on top, competition between these two technology titans makes one thing certain: Before the arrival of 2023, the GPU market will usher in the most advanced graphics card we’ve seen yet.

Zak Islam
Former Computing Writer
Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…
Driver issues with Nvidia GPUs? No, it’s not just you
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU.

While Nvidia's focus has shifted to some of its best graphics cards from the RTX 50-series, its older GPUs seem to be running into some driver issues. Many users are turning to Reddit to report problems such as crashes, black screens, blue screens of death (BSODs), and issues launching certain games. These problems only seem to affect the latest drivers.

Scotty1992 on Reddit made a massive thread compiling various recent complaints related to Nvidia's Game Ready driver, which mostly seems to include various versions of the 572.xx driver. The RTX 40-series appears to be the one most affected, with people reporting problems on cards such as the RTX 4090 or the RTX 4080.

Read more
Nvidia may finally let gamers buy some GPUs at a reasonable price
Logo on the RTX 4060 Ti graphics card.

Nvidia's getting ready to expand its list of the best graphics cards soon, and thanks to leakers, we now have a rumored date for when these new GPUs might hit the shelves. The date is not the part that excites me the most, though. According to the leak, Nvidia will require that its add-in channel (AIC) partners will have to offer at least one model at the recommended list price (MSRP) -- something we desperately need right now. But how long will it last?

The scoop comes from HKEPC, a Hong Kong-based publication. According to HKEPC, Nvidia revealed the release dates for the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB, RTX 5060 Ti 8GB, and the RTX 5060 (which will likely come with 8GB VRAM, although some sources say 12GB). Keep in mind that the following is still a rumor until Nvidia itself confirms otherwise, which, by the sound of it, won't happen for a while.

Read more
AMD GPUs are supposed to be plentiful, but good luck finding one
Various AMD RX 9000 series graphics cards.

It's clear that AMD hit the jackpot with its recent RX 9070 XT and non-XT GPUs. The pair quickly climbed up every list of the best graphics cards, and perhaps more importantly, received a warm welcome from the GPU market at large (and thus sold out immediately). A new leak tells us that AMD is shipping lots of GPUs to try to keep up with the demand -- and yet they're still not in stock.

The information comes from Moore's Law Is Dead on YouTube, who claims to have spoken to a major online retailer about RDNA 4 stock levels. Both Nvidia and AMD have been in a pretty dire place since the release of their latest graphics cards, with many people referring to the RTX 50-series as a "paper launch." The cards just sell out too quickly and too many people are left trying to find one.

Read more