5 things that will make or break AMD’s RX 9000 GPUs

The last two weeks have been all about Nvidia’s RTX 50 series launch — the company’s performance claims, the actual rasterized gen-on-gen gains, and the “fake vs. real frames” debate. It’s also been about the notable absence of AMD’s RDNA 4 graphics cards from its CES keynote. The company’s RX 9000 GPUs were a no-show at CES, which AMD tried to justify. Many people believe the company might not be confident in its offerings.

Only time will tell whether or not that’s true — we should have a definitive answer when the cards are available in March — but it’s clear that AMD needs to deliver on five key areas to realistically compete with Nvidia. Team Green still enjoys a dominant share of the desktop GPU market, and AMD needs to strike the right balance between price, performance, and features if it wants to put a dent in that.

5

Competing with the right cards

RTX 5070 should be the target

It’s probably common knowledge by now that AMD won’t be playing king of the hill with Nvidia this time around. We won’t be seeing an RTX 5090 or even RTX 5080 competitor from AMD. The company has confirmed that it’s planning to target volume-driven segments, something its RX 7800 XT was quite popular in. Naturally, this would pit Team Red’s RX 9000 flagship against the likes of the RTX 5070 and maybe the RTX 5070 Ti.

Nvidia might be standing alone in the high-end segment, but most gamers still go for the company’s mid-range cards every generation. The $549 RTX 5070 might not end up being the most popular 50 series GPU — the RTX 5060 and RTX 5060 Ti are still awaited — but undercutting it while offering equal or better performance will clearly position AMD as an enticing alternative at the $500 price point.

Nvidia is known to heavily nerf its lower-tier SKUs compared to the high-end variants, so if AMD manages to decisively outperform cards like the RTX 5060 at a lower asking price, it could see itself selling big numbers even in the lower-priced segments. The budget segment is more price-conscious than ever, and if AMD delivers compelling overall products at fantastic prices, it’s hard to see the company not taking some market share in this segment.

Related

5 reasons I don’t plan to upgrade to Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series

It’ll be exciting to cover what Nvidia’s RTX 5000 series brings in January, but I don’t plan to upgrade.

4

Heavily improved ray tracing performance

Needless to say…

If most gamers shop in the budget and lower mid-range segments, why aren’t AMD’s relatively affordable cards more popular on the Steam Hardware Survey? Nvidia’s strong brand recognition is an important factor, but its superior ray tracing performance also plays a huge role in swaying gamers. Time and again, we’ve seen AMD’s offerings lag behind those of Nvidia’s in ray tracing benchmarks in today’s most demanding games.

It is reported that RDNA 4 will feature a completely revamped ray tracing engine, bringing enormous performance improvements to the RX 9000 GPUs. On the RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 cards, despite the existence of dedicated Ray Accelerators, a lot of the complex calculations still rely on the general-purpose shader units, unlike dedicated RT cores on Nvidia and Intel GPUs.

This is set to change with the introduction of similar hardware-level cores on RDNA 4 GPUs, promising revolutionary ray tracing performance gains. If this all plays out well, AMD could finally rise above playing second fiddle to Nvidia when it comes to cutting-edge ray tracing and path tracing games. Ray tracing has started becoming mandatory in several new titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, so the technology is here to stay, and can no longer be ignored.

Related

3 reasons why ray tracing is here to stay

Get used to it, because it’s not going anywhere.

3

AI-driven FSR 4 upscaling and frame generation

AI-generated frames are the future

Nvidia made it clear in its CES keynote that it is firmly heading in the direction of AI-generated frames. Even with the performance numbers it is marketing with its RTX 50 series GPUs, for every engine-generated frame, there will be three AI-generated frames (DLSS Multi Frame Generation set to 4x). The future of circumventing the limits of Moore’s Law with software innovation seems like it’s already here.

In order to compete with Nvidia’s mid-range and possible budget options, AMD will need to deliver game-changing generational improvements with its FSR 4 tech. Thankfully, the company has already confirmed that FSR 4, developed for RDNA 4, will use machine learning for upscaling and frame generation. In early demos showcased by some online outlets, FSR 4 appears to have succeeded in generating smooth, artifact-free scenes in games.

With new dedicated ray tracing hardware and AI-based FSR 4 tech, AMD can realistically shake up the mid-range segment, offering gamers a true ray tracing alternative to Nvidia’s cards. Intel’s new Battlemage GPUs are doing great in the budget segment, but we might not see them launch anything to compete with AMD in the mid-range, at least not in this generation.

Related

3 reasons why PC gamers should be excited for AMD FSR 4 and RDNA 4

AMD has some cool tech on the way for its next-gen GPUs.

2

Enough VRAM to overshadow the competition

Gamers need to see big numbers

Whatever might have changed from the RTX 40 to the RTX 50 series, Nvidia’s VRAM problem remains as chronic as ever. Except for the RTX 5090 which gets a huge 32GB framebuffer, all the other models have less than ideal VRAM. Whether it’s the $999 RTX 5080 with 16GB or the $749 RTX 5070 Ti with 12GB VRAM, Nvidia simply doesn’t want to provide ample VRAM to gamers, presumably to upsell its higher-tier SKUs.

Nvidia’s Blackwell architecture and AI-generated frames might require lower VRAM than before, but many gamers might still be pulled to the other side if AMD continues to offer plenty of VRAM on each of its RDNA 4 models. AMD might have observed its own cards relying less on VRAM and more on AI compute in the lab, but still adding enough VRAM can count as a significant benefit over the competition.

Gamers are increasingly opting for 1440p displays, and with higher resolutions come higher VRAM requirements. Hence, VRAM will continue to be a sticking point for gamers targeting 1440p and 4K gaming in 2025. It might not be a huge factor alone (at least not yet), but combined with the other factors on the list, it can certainly make its presence felt during a purchase decision.

Related

What is VRAM and how much does your GPU need?

VRAM, or GPU memory, is a crucial specification on a graphics card, but how much is enough?

1

The right price

No inflated MSRPs this time

Of course, the pricing will matter a lot if AMD wants to convert loyalists and undecided consumers alike. In the past, AMD’s pricing has been less than ideal, with its high-end cards priced too high considering the performance and overall value. The company has repeatedly launched products at higher MSRPs only to introduce price cuts soon after. Team Red would want to avoid a repeat of that with RDNA 4.

AMD has waited for Nvidia to reveal its cards at CES, choosing to cancel its own RX 9000 announcement at the last minute (after briefing the press on it before the event). All that’s left to do is introduce its much-publicized RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 at highly competitive prices. The rumored sub-$500 prices sound promising, and AMD should strive to ensure the street prices don’t end up creeping into RTX 500 territory.

The company needs to fight on several fronts at once — deliver seriously strong rasterized performance, greatly improve ray tracing performance, and offer compelling performance per dollar. Competitive pricing will only work if gamers are convinced they’re not getting inferior hardware, especially after seeing what Nvidia’s DLSS 4 can do with its Multi Frame Generation.

Related

4 reasons why I’m switching to an AMD GPU in 2025

Sorry NVIDIA, but you’ve driven me to the Red Team.

AMD’s RDNA 4 truly looks like a generational leap

For the first time in years, I feel AMD is cooking something crazy in the lab. We’re seeing leaks and demos about highly promising 4K gaming numbers, incredible improvements to FSR, lower-than-expected prices (way lower), and AMD execs issuing strong positive comments to media outlets. The ray tracing performance of FSR 4 is said to blow that of FSR 3 out of the water, and AMD is even planning to bring many of its benefits to RDNA 3 and RDNA 3.5 cards as well.

Nvidia might also be brainstorming how to better position its upcoming RTX 5060 Ti and RTX 5060 against whatever AMD will unveil in the next few weeks. We might even get more attractive prices on the 60-class cards as Nvidia attempts to negate some of the performance and value advantages of AMD’s RX 9000 models. Whatever happens, there are exciting times ahead for gamers.