Based on conventional GPU development cycles of roughly 2.5 to 3.5 years, RDNA 5 could already have been approaching tape-out or early post-tape-out stages when the information surfaced in August 2025, which means that the company is already likely to be testing the new GPUs internally.
Officially, AMD hasn't disclosed any details about its RDNA 5 architecture nor launch schedule, so take these developments with a grain of salt. For now, all we know for sure is that AMD is working on standalone RDNA 5-based GPUs, and they're likely to use GDDR7 in at least some configurations, assuming the AI-driven memory crunch doesn't choke supply of those chips even further for consumer applications.
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Anton Shilov Social Links Navigation Contributing Writer Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
DS426 I can see GDDR7 being needed for stronger Radeon AI Pro GPU's (and the customer base there that has the coin to afford it), but will it make it into gaming-class cards? I'm hoping so for at least a new halo card and halo -1, but unfortunately only the rich & famous will be able to afford those bad boys. AMD doesn't have a lot of incentive to make lower margins on essentially a reworked beefy AI GPU with less VRAM, higher clocks, etc. at lower prices, but we'll see what hand they play when the time comes. Reply
usertests DS426 said: I can see GDDR7 being needed for stronger Radeon AI Pro GPU's (and the customer base there that has the coin to afford it), but will it make it into gaming-class cards? I'm hoping so for at least a new halo card and halo -1, but unfortunately only the rich & famous will be able to afford those bad boys. AMD doesn't have a lot of incentive to make lower margins on essentially a reworked beefy AI GPU with less VRAM, higher clocks, etc. at lower prices, but we'll see what hand they play when the time comes. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/amds-rdna-5-might-deliver-what-gamers-want-most-more-vram/ We've seen a leaked document showing what cards they were considering 1-2 years ago, all using 3 GB GDDR7, at 36 Gbps instead of the 28-30 Gbps Nvidia uses now. With that bandwidth on the table, it probably doesn't make sense to use GDDR6 anymore, and 2 GB GDDR7 production could be ending. The end of 2 GB GDDR7 production should help 3 GB GDDR7 module prices to fall to reasonable levels. 3 GB GDDR7 can enable some interesting moves for the "low-end". An obvious one would be a 128-bit 12 GB card. It ends the 8 GB dilemma and provides enough VRAM for 1080p. The document also shows 160-bit 15 GB, which could be a good compromise below 192-bit 18 GB. A 15 GB RDNA5 card with around 2.25x the bandwidth ((36/20.1)*(160/128)) will crush the 9060 XT 16 GB, and nobody will miss that 1 GB. Reply
DS426 usertests said: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/amds-rdna-5-might-deliver-what-gamers-want-most-more-vram/ We've seen a leaked document showing what cards they were considering 1-2 years ago, all using 3 GB GDDR7, at 36 Gbps instead of the 28-30 Gbps Nvidia uses now. With that bandwidth on the table, it probably doesn't make sense to use GDDR6 anymore, and 2 GB GDDR7 production could be ending. The end of 2 GB GDDR7 production should help 3 GB GDDR7 module prices to fall to reasonable levels. 3 GB GDDR7 can enable some interesting moves for the "low-end". An obvious one would be a 128-bit 12 GB card. It ends the 8 GB dilemma and provides enough VRAM for 1080p. The document also shows 160-bit 15 GB, which could be a good compromise below 192-bit 18 GB. A 15 GB RDNA5 card with around 2.25x the bandwidth ((36/20.1)*(160/128)) will crush the 9060 XT 16 GB, and nobody will miss that 1 GB. True, but I'd still be surprised if GDDR6 isn't used at the lower end. Unless production is changing there as well to 3 GB GDDR7 in large volumes, it's going to remain cheaper and more readily available, even if the GDDR7 options are better for gamers (9 or 12 GB of VRAM instead of 8, narrower but much faster mem bus, etc.). Great info though, thank you for sharing that! Reply
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- https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/gpus/amd-begins-to-add-gddr7-support-to-its-linux-gpu-drivers-changes-could-herald-use-of-advanced-memory-standard-with-next-gen-radeon-gpus#main
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