AMD is apparently changing the naming scheme of its mainstream GPU products. A recent report suggests that the upcoming Radeon RX 8000 series naming will be exclusive to the RDNA 3.5-based graphics, while the RDNA 4-based GPUs will get the Radeon RX 9000 naming.
While we previously anticipated the “Strix Halo” mobile APUs iGPUs and the next-gen RDNA 4 discrete GPUs would both be part of the Radeon RX 8000 series, according to HXL, this branding will be exclusive to RDNA 3.5-based iGPUs. As for the RDNA 4-based products, these will belong to the Radeon RX 9000 series.
The Radeon RX 9000 series highlights AMD's strategic shift towards prioritizing the high-volume mid-range market rather than chasing the ultra-enthusiast segment. RDNA 4 boasts improved SIMD IPC performance and a dedicated ray tracing approach that significantly reduces performance overhead compared to current solutions. According to a tweet from @All_The_Watts, some of the SKU series we can expect include the AMD Radeon RX 9070 (9070 XT, 9070, 9070M XT, 9070M, 9070S), 9060, 9050, and 9040.
RDNA 3.5-based graphics, on the other hand, will be a refined iteration of the current RDNA 3 architecture, exclusive to AMD's mobile platform (at least for the foreseeable future). This updated architecture will power the integrated graphics within the upcoming Strix Halo APUs, offering a performance uplift for laptops and mobile devices. Both RDNA 4 GPUs and RDNA 3.5-based APUs are expected to be officially unveiled at CES 2025 in January.
KitGuru says: If we limit the RDNA 3.5 for the RX 8000 and the RDNA 4 for the RX 9000, this naming scheme does make a bit more sense than bundling different architectures under the same series.