AMD's RDNA 4 Ray Tracing Leak Reveals Key Details For PC Gaming And PS5 Pro
NVIDIA has enjoyed a substantial lead in ray tracing performance for the last few product releases, but things may soon be changing. AMD's upcoming RDNA 4 architecture may bring with it a significant increase for ray tracing capabilities, for both PC and console gamers.
One of the beneficiaries of this will be Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro. While a release date has yet to be confirmed, it hovers somewhere near the end of 2024 or into 2025. What is also expected is a better GPU powering this console refresh, which will help it achieve higher frame rates at higher resolutions.
One of the beneficiaries of this will be Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro. While a release date has yet to be confirmed, it hovers somewhere near the end of 2024 or into 2025. What is also expected is a better GPU powering this console refresh, which will help it achieve higher frame rates at higher resolutions.
According to Kepler on X, some items of interest in the upgrades include a double ray tracing intersect engine (could massive improve GPU processing of rays in parallel compared to RDNA 3), RT instance node transform (potentially better handling of ray tracing geometry), and some other goodies, as outlined in a heavily redacted sheet. This will also lead to higher performance and lessening the computational workload required to achieve them.
Ray tracing will also likely enter a new era of visual and technical progress with more attention being given to it in this generation.
With gaming titles getting more visually impressive and thus more demanding, these are essential upgrades to keep up with developments. The more powerful GPU in the PS5 Pro will allow it to last for years of important game releases, so it is essential it is as powerful as the system can handle.
On the PC gaming side, AMD has had some valiant efforts such as the Radeon RX 7900 XTX to compete with NVIDIA's top end. With the inclusion of technologies such as FSR 3, AMD is also attempting to match what NVIDIA has to offer. Ray tracing has long been a weak point in AMD GPUs, but steady progress has been made for the 7000 series GPUs.
If these new ray tracing rumors are any indication, the next generation RX 8000 series GPUs from AMD may finally go toe-to-toe with NVIDIA's offerings, though it's not as though NVIDIA is standing pat. While nothing has been announced thus far for either side, NVIDIA should have its Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs relatively soon—recent chatter suggest NVIDIA might be targeting a CES launch rather than a 2024 release.
Time will tell if AMD can catch up with the historically more powerful NVIDIA GPUs, but console gamers will be in for a treat regardless with the PS5 Pro.
On the PC gaming side, AMD has had some valiant efforts such as the Radeon RX 7900 XTX to compete with NVIDIA's top end. With the inclusion of technologies such as FSR 3, AMD is also attempting to match what NVIDIA has to offer. Ray tracing has long been a weak point in AMD GPUs, but steady progress has been made for the 7000 series GPUs.
If these new ray tracing rumors are any indication, the next generation RX 8000 series GPUs from AMD may finally go toe-to-toe with NVIDIA's offerings, though it's not as though NVIDIA is standing pat. While nothing has been announced thus far for either side, NVIDIA should have its Blackwell-based GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs relatively soon—recent chatter suggest NVIDIA might be targeting a CES launch rather than a 2024 release.
Time will tell if AMD can catch up with the historically more powerful NVIDIA GPUs, but console gamers will be in for a treat regardless with the PS5 Pro.
