AMD quietly launches a new RDNA 3 GPU, the Radeon RX 7700, with 16GB of VRAM

AMD has quietly launched the Radeon RX 7700 graphics card, a new RDNA 3-powered GPU that features a cut-down chip compared to the Radeon RX 7700 XT, but with more VRAM. The new Radeon RX 7700's product page states that it's "designed for immersive gaming and streaming experiences at 1440p," and it ships with 16GB of GDDR6 memory, compared to the RX 7700 XT's 12GB.

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The memory configuration is identical to that of the Radeon RX 7800 XT, featuring 16GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit interface for a total memory bandwidth of up to 624 GB/s. That said, it only features 40MB of AMD Infinity Cache, which is less than the Radeon RX 7700 XT and the Radeon RX 7800 XT.

Outside of the increased memory capacity and speed, the new Radeon RX 7700 is still a cut-down version of the Radeon RX 7700 XT, with 2560 Stream Processors and 40 Compute Units, compared to 3456 Stream Processors and 54 Compute Units. AMD also includes some benchmarks on the Radeon RX 7700's product page, giving us a general idea of how it performs in comparison to the Radeon RX 7700 XT.

Assuming the benchmark settings and conditions are the same across both GPUs, the average performance in Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4, and Dying Light 2 shows that the new Radeon RX 7700 is around 16-19% slower than the Radeon RX 7700 XT in PC gaming. Interestingly, it appears to be less efficient as well, with AMD's Typical Board Power (Desktop) rating for the new RX 7700 actually being higher than that of the Radeon RX 7700 XT and on par with the more powerful 7800 XT.

As for why AMD is releasing a new mid-range RDNA 3 GPU in the RDNA 4 era, this likely stems from excess hardware and yields that didn't meet the specifications for the 7700 XT or 7800 XT. Additionally, with 16GB of VRAM, it could be positioned as an affordable GPU for running local AI applications. Here's a look at the specs.