AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPU rumored delay: now Q1 2025 because of RDNA 3 oversupply

AMD has been kicking goal after goal with its CPU business, but the GPU side of the company has been struggling for many, many years now... and now, there's a new issue: oversupply of RDNA 3 graphics cards, so RDNA 4 is being pushed back to Q1 2025 according to new rumors.

In a new video from leaker Moore's Law is Dead, we're hearing that AMD is pushing RDNA 4 to Q1 2025 as there is an "oversupply problem" and that "RDNA 4 is MUCH better" in price/performance, and with too many Radeon RX 7000 series "RDNA 3" graphics cards on the market, it means RDNA 4 is being pushed.

A couple of sources talked to MLID, confirming a "HUGE" oversupply problem with RDNA 3 and that low-to-mid RDNA 3 graphics cards are selling "OK" but the higher-end Navi 31-based GPUs aren't "moving at all right now".

All of this makes sense, but it makes for a crappy situation for AMD. NVIDIA is about to strike down with the most insane consumer graphics card on the market with the impending release of the next-gen GeForce RTX 5090... which will blow away the RTX 4090, and demolish Radeon into the ground even more. AMD itself has said that the "KIng of the Hill" GPU strategy has failed, with RDNA 4 being a mainstream GPU release.

• Read more: AMD: 'King of the Hill' GPU strategy hasn't worked: RDNA 4 mainstream only
• Read more: AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs rumored to mirror RDNA 1 product positioning: aimed at mid-range

AMD is reportedly going to launch RDNA 4 and mirror the RDNA 1 product positioning, aiming Radeon RX 8000 series graphics cards at the mid-range, leaving NVIDIA to scoop up all of the high-end, and ultra-enthusiast GPU market. RDNA 5 is said to be a "Zen moment" for Radeon, so that's all we can wait for now.

MLID's sources said:

• Source 1: I'm sorry about this, but I (AMD partner) just got an email from AMD that stated RDNA 4 is almost certainly getting pushed back to Q1 2025. The reason stated is that they need to get rid of N31 before RDNA 4 launches. They have an oversupply problem, and RDNA 4 is MUCH better price/perf.
• Source 2: I (major retailer) can confirm that we have a HUGE RDNA 3 oversupply problem right now. Actually, low-mid RDNA 3 is selling OK, but Navi 31 isn't moving at all right now...
• Source 3: I (AMD) have always communicated to you that "by Q1 2025" is all I can guarantee for RDNA 4... but actually I can corroborate that partners werer briefed about RDNA 4 a month ago".
• Source 4: All I (AIB) can confirm is that there is NO WAY RDNA 4 launches October, but maybe a paper launch this year is doable, but I wouldn't bet on it".

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• Read more: AMD's next-gen Navi 44 XL: mid-range RDNA 4 for Radeon RX 8600 teased
• Read more: AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs to have 48MB to 64MB of Infinity Cache
• Read more: AMD RDNA 4 leak: Navi 48 GPU up to 3.2GHz, RTX 4080 perf, $499 to $599
• Read more: PS5 Pro rumored to be 45% faster than standard PS5, 2-3x faster in ray tracing
• Read more: AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs rumored for 2025: Navi 48 at CES, Navi 44 in Q2
• Read more: AMD's next-gen Navi 48 XTX GPU with 4 different board designs spotted
• Read more: AMD's next-gen Navi 48 GPU: 3.0-3.3GHz, up to RX 7900 XTX perf, not using GDDR7

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AMD's next-gen RDNA 4-based Navi 48 GPU leaks:

• 64 CUs @ 2.9GHz to 3.2GHz (real-world max GPU boost clocks)
• less than 96MB of next-gen Infinity Cache
• 256-bit memory bus
• 16GB of GDDR6 memory @ 20Gbps
• 210W to 280W power draw (TDP)
• Increase in Ray Tracing Accelerator count per CU
• Monolithic die manufactured on TSMC 4nm
• Added FP8 + Matrix Hardware (arguably proven in the MLID PS5 Pro leak)
• October-November launch time frame
• $499 to $599 MSRP

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The skinny on AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPUs:

• Heavily improved ray tracing performance: In leaks over the last few months, we're hearing that there are some major ray tracing improvements in RDNA 4, with the new Radeon RX 8800 XT expected to trade blows with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER when it comes to games with ray tracing enabled.
• Improved power efficiency: AMD won't be gunning for 500W+ or something with RDNA 4, rather they'll keep efficiency in check for its RDNA 4 GPUs just like we've seen with power efficiency improvements with AMD's new Zen 5 processors.
• Next-gen Infinity Cache on RDNA 4: We should expect to see next-gen Infinity Cache on RDNA 4 graphics cards, with some rumors saying less than 96MB of Infinity Cache on Radeon RX 8000 series GPUs, with fresh rumors saying we'll see a max of 64MB on RDNA 4.
• Won't beat NVIDIA's next-gen RTX 5090 or RTX 5080: Nope. NVIDIA will have the high-end gaming GPU market to itself, which it did with the RTX 4090 and RTX 4080 SUPER anyway. The new Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 cards will be the gaming GPU kings in 2025. RDNA 4 will NOT compete with high-end RTX 50 series GPUs, period. We'll have to wait and see what RDNA 5 brings, which is a complete design of the GPU architecture and not coming until 2026+.

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• Radeon RX 8800 XT should be the flagship RDNA 4 card: AMD launched the flagship RDNA 3-powered Radeon RX 7900 XTX, which under that fell the RX 7900 XT, and then the RX 7800 XT. With RDNA 4, we're expecting to not see any RX 8900 series GPUs, but rather the Radeon RX 8800 XT will be the flagship RDNA 4 card.
• RDNA 4 tech is inside Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro: AMD has done some fantastic work on RDNA 4, which will be powering the GPU side of the beefed-up semi-custom SoC inside of Sony's upcoming PS5 Pro console. The PS5 Pro is expected to have 2-3x the ray tracing performance of the standard PS5, so we're going to enjoy those optimizations on RT for the Radeon RX 8000 series GPU side on the PC when it comes.
• Possibly just 3 different RX 8000 series GPUs at first: AMD's next-gen RDNA 4 GPU architecture will most likely power just 3 different RX 8000 series GPUs at first: the Navi 48 XTX-powered Radeon RX 8800 XT, the Navi 48 XT-powered RX 8700 XT, and the Navi 44 XT-powered RX 8600 XT graphics cards. We could be wrong, but that's where we think they'll fall when RDNA 4 is unleashed.