If there's one area where AMD's graphics cards need to improve, it's ray tracing. Now the latest rumour suggests a big boost in ray tracing performance is exactly what AMD's next gen RDNA 4 GPUs are going to get.
More specifically, it's claimed by well-established Chiphell forum user zhangzhonghao (via Sweclockers) that the upcoming Radeon RX 8800 XT will deliver no less than 45% better ray tracing performance than the existing Radeon RX 7900 XTX. If true, that is a monumental improvement in AMD's weakest metric.
Arguably, the critical point to note here is that the 8800 XT (if that is indeed what AMD brands it) will not be positioned at the high end. AMD is on record that it isn't going after the very top tier of graphics card with RDNA 4. But these rumours claim that it will nevertheless offer far more ray-tracing grunt than its current top-end GPU.
That would imply a truly massive ray-tracing boost versus, say, the existing Radeon RX 7800 XT, which is likely to be more aligned with the new GPU in terms of market positioning towards the upper end of the mid range.
The same rumour claims that the 8800 XT will offer raster performance more or less in line with an RTX 4080 or 4080 Super. If the 8800 XT offers all of that and is indeed positioned anywhere near the 7800 XT, which can currently be had for $450 or so, it will be just about the most compelling new GPU in living memory.
To be frank, it all sounds too good to be true. The most obvious element that could spoil the party, even if the performance estimates are bang on, is pricing. If AMD really does have something that good on its hands, what are the odds it prices the thing up at $600, $700, maybe even $800?
As ever, all of this falls into the wait-and-see category. AMD does have form when it comes to undercutting Nvidia massively. Way back in the mists of 2008, AMD rolled out the Radeon HD 4870 that offered 80% of the performance of Nvidia's top-end GPU for barely more than half its price.
Could we be set to see something like that again? I slightly doubt it, but I'm still hopeful. And if it happens, I'm buying six of the things to show my appreciation. Maybe.
