AMD Graphics Cards: A Guide to the Latest and Greatest

AMD is one of the leading companies in the PC gaming industry, producing some of the most powerful and innovative graphics cards on the market. Whether you are looking for a budget-friendly option, a high-end beast, or something in between, AMD has a graphics card for you. In this article, we will take a look at AMD's current graphics card offerings, covering the Radeon RX 5000, 6000, and 7000 series, and highlighting their features, performance, and prices.

AMD: The Company

AMD, short for Advanced Micro Devices, is an American multinational corporation that specializes in developing and manufacturing microprocessors, graphics cards, and other related technologies. AMD was founded in 1969 by Jerry Sanders and seven co-founders, and has since grown to become one of the largest semiconductor companies in the world, with over 12,000 employees and a revenue of $13.28 billion in 2021.

AMD is best known for its Ryzen CPUs and Radeon GPUs, which compete with Intel and Nvidia respectively in the PC gaming market. AMD is also the supplier of custom chips for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, as well as some of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, such as Frontier and El Capitan.

A very brief history

AMD's history in the graphics card industry dates back to 2006, when it acquired ATI Technologies, a Canadian company that was one of the pioneers of 3D graphics. AMD integrated ATI's products into its own portfolio, and rebranded them as Radeon in 2010. Since then, AMD has released several generations of Radeon graphics cards, based on different architectures and technologies.

Some of the most notable architectures include:

• GCN (Graphics Core Next), which debuted in 2011 and powered the Radeon HD 7000 to RX 500 series, as well as the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles. GCN introduced features such as asynchronous compute, hardware tessellation, and AMD Eyefinity.
• RDNA (Radeon DNA), which launched in 2019 and powered the Radeon RX 5000 and 6000 series, as well as the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles. RDNA improved the efficiency, performance, and scalability of AMD's graphics cards, and introduced features such as hardware ray tracing, variable rate shading, and AMD Infinity Cache.
• RDNA 2, which is the latest and most advanced architecture from AMD, and powers the Radeon RX 7000 series, as well as some of the upcoming supercomputers. RDNA 2 further enhances the capabilities of AMD's graphics cards, and introduces features such as AI acceleration, AV1 encoding, and AMD Smart Access Memory.

AMD Radeon RX 5000 series

The Radeon RX 5000 series is a series of graphics cards that are based on the RDNA architecture and target the mainstream mid to high-end segment of the market. The series consists of the following models:

• Radeon RX 5300 and 5300 XT, which are entry-level cards that offer decent performance for 1080p gaming and esports titles. They have 3 GB or 4 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 96-bit or 128-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 5500 and 5500 XT, which are mid-range cards that deliver smooth performance for 1080p gaming and VR applications. They have 4 GB or 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 5600 and 5600 XT, which are high-end cards that offer excellent performance for 1080p and 1440p gaming and streaming. They have 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 5700 and 5700 XT, which are upper high-end cards that provide outstanding performance for 1440p and 4K gaming and content creation. They have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus.

The Radeon RX 5000 series also features AMD FidelityFX, an open-source collection of visual technologies that enhance the quality and realism of games, without compromising performance. Some of the FidelityFX effects include contrast-adaptive sharpening, ambient occlusion, screen-space reflections, and denoising.

AMD Radeon RX 6000 series

The Radeon RX 6000 series is a series of graphics cards that are based on the RDNA 2 architecture and target the high-end and enthusiast segment of the market. The series consists of the following models:

• Radeon RX 6600 and 6600 XT, which are high-end cards that deliver impressive performance for 1080p and 1440p gaming and ray tracing. They have 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 6700 and 6700 XT, which are upper high-end cards that provide stunning performance for 1440p and 4K gaming and ray tracing. They have 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 6800 and 6800 XT, which are enthusiast cards that offer incredible performance for 4K and 8K gaming and ray tracing. They have 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 6900 XT and 6950 XT, which are the flagship cards of the series and the fastest AMD gaming graphics cards ever developed. They deliver unparalleled performance for 4K and 8K gaming and ray tracing. They have 16 GB or 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus.

The Radeon RX 6000 series also features AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution, an in-game upscaling technology that boosts the performance and quality of games, especially when ray tracing is enabled. FidelityFX Super Resolution uses four different modes (Ultra Quality, Quality, Balanced, and Performance) to optimize the image quality and frame rate according to the user's preference.

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AMD Radeon RX 7000 series

The Radeon RX 7000 series is the latest and most advanced series of graphics cards from AMD, based on the RDNA 3 architecture. The series was announced on November 3, 2022 and launched on December 19, 2022. The series includes the following models:

• Radeon RX 7600, which is an entry-level card that offers decent performance for 1080p gaming and esports titles. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 128-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 7700 XT, which is a mid-range card that delivers smooth performance for 1440p gaming and ray tracing. It has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 192-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 7800 XT, which is a high-end card that offers excellent performance for 4K gaming and ray tracing. It has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus.
• Radeon RX 7900 XT and 7900 XTX, which are the flagship cards of the series and the ultimate 4K gaming and ray tracing cards. They have 20 GB or 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and a 256-bit memory bus.

The Radeon RX 7000 series also features AMD Smart Access Memory, a technology that allows the CPU to access the full memory of the GPU, resulting in improved performance and efficiency. Smart Access Memory works with AMD Ryzen 5000 and 6000 series processors and AMD 500 and 600 series motherboards.

AMD Radeon R5, R7 and R9 series

These are a series of graphics cards based on the Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture, launched between 2013 and 2015. They target different segments of the market, from entry-level to enthusiast.

• The R5 series are the lowest-end cards, suitable for basic tasks and light gaming.
• The R7 series are the mid-range cards, offering decent performance for 1080p gaming and multimedia.
• The R9 series are the high-end cards, delivering high performance for 1440p and 4K gaming and VR.

Some of the notable models in this series include the R9 290X, the R9 390X, and the R9 Fury X.

Radeon 500 and 600 series

These are a series of graphics cards based on the GCN 4th and 5th generation architectures, codenamed Polaris and Vega, launched between 2017 and 2019. They are mostly rebrands of the previous generation cards, with some minor improvements and tweaks.

• The 500 series consists of the RX 500 and RX 500X models, which target the mainstream mid to high-end segment of the market.
• The 600 series consists of the RX 600 and RX 600X models, which target the low-end segment of the market, mainly for OEMs and laptops.

Some of the notable models in this series include the RX 580, the RX 590, and the RX 640.

Radeon RX Vega, 500 and 400 series

These are a series of graphics cards based on the GCN 5th generation architecture, codenamed Vega, launched between 2017 and 2019. They target the high-end and enthusiast segment of the market, competing with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 10 and RTX 20 series. The RX Vega series consists of the RX Vega 56 and RX Vega 64 models, which offer high performance for 4K gaming and VR, and support features such as HBM2 memory, primitive shaders, and hardware-accelerated ray tracing.

The RX 500 and 400 series are integrated graphics solutions for desktop and mobile APUs, based on the Vega architecture. They offer decent performance for 1080p gaming and multimedia, and support features such as FidelityFX, FreeSync, and Radeon Boost. Some of the notable models in this series include the RX Vega 10, the RX Vega 11, and the RX Vega M.

Conclusion

AMD has a wide range of graphics cards to suit different needs and budgets, from the affordable RX 5000 series to the cutting-edge RX 7000 series. AMD's graphics cards are powered by the innovative RDNA architecture, which delivers high performance, low power consumption, and advanced features. AMD's graphics cards also support various technologies that enhance the gaming experience, such as FidelityFX, ray tracing, and Smart Access Memory. Whether you are a casual gamer, a hardcore enthusiast, or a content creator, AMD has a graphics card for you.