Details are revealed about AMD's RDNA 2 plans

During AMD's Financial Analyst Day, the firm confirmed some key details about its upcoming RDNA 2 architecture based Navi 2X graphics cards. 

During the presentation, AMD confirmed quite a few bits and pieces including the news of superior mobile CPUs, Navi 2X, Navi 3X, Zen 4 on 5nm, along with the CDNA architecture. 

In the case of Navi 2X, RDNA 2 chips will feature "extreme performance with efficient power" along with hardware-based ray tracing and variable rate shading. Sounds familiar? That's because it's the same plan and architecture as the Xbox Series X will offer later this year too. 

In a statement, Rick Bergman, VP of computing and graphics at the firm explained, "we’ll introduce those products at the end of this year. But clearly we’re stepping up and we’re targeting the enthusiast-class performance as well, which means we have to have great performance at 4K resolutions."

He also suggested it'll be a staggered launch with some of the cards likely to arrive by the end of 2020 with a mixture of mid-range and entry-level options including a supposedly 'uncompromising 4K' GPU. The plan is to "take that 2X stack across, over time, the entire top-to-bottom lineup for graphics." 

So, basically, do what RNDA 1 did before it by creating a series of graphics cards that appeal to every budget and user. 

To get into the finer details of things, David Wang, VP of Radeon Technologies Group, explained that their target for RDNA 2 is "to drive another 50 percent" when it comes to performance per watt. That's a huge improvement if it comes to fruition and could see some massive benchmarks for RDNA 2 with the usual caveat that it'll depend on the game and various other settings to achieve this. 

It seems unlikely that the current range such as the RX 5500 XT and RX 5600 XT will be going anywhere any time soon given they've only recently been launched but it seems likely that the number of AMD based options will expand for a while come the end of the year. 

We still need to find out more about RDNA 2 along with what it will actually mean for gaming beyond some ambiguous claims. To an extent, we're left with the predictable idea that it's better and offers more - something we already know. Still, it's promising news for a market that's sure to get rather exciting later in the year.