For months, web rumor mills have claimed that AMD’s next-generation Radeon RX 8000 graphics playing cards would cede the high-end market to Nvidia’s GeForce lineup, after the GeForce RTX 4090 stomped all around the competitors this time round.

Now, AMD’s senior VP and normal supervisor of the computing and graphics group, Jack Huynh, all however confirmed it when he responded to Tom’s {Hardware}’s query about whether or not Radeon will compete with Nvidia on the “high of the stack”:

“My primary precedence proper now could be to construct scale, to get us to 40 to 50 % of the market quicker. Do I need to go after 10 % of the TAM [Total Addressable Market] or 80 %? I’m an 80 % form of man as a result of I don’t need AMD to be the corporate that solely individuals who can afford Porsches and Ferraris should purchase. We need to construct gaming methods for hundreds of thousands of customers.

Sure, we can have nice, nice, nice merchandise. However we tried that technique [King of the Hill] — it hasn’t actually grown. ATI has tried this King of the Hill technique, and the market share has form of been… the market share. I need to construct the very best merchandise on the proper system worth level. So, take into consideration worth point-wise; we’ll have management.”

Huynh conceded that “someday, we could” battle Nvidia for flagship supremacy once more, nevertheless it’s not within the playing cards proper now as a result of AMD needs to drive broader consumer adoption to persuade builders to give attention to Radeon merchandise. Gaming and AI are each very popular classes proper now, and whereas AMD has footholds in each territories, Nvidia dominates.

Brad Chacos / IDG

Brad Chacos / IDG

Brad Chacos / IDG

It’s a noble purpose — nevertheless it’s not the primary time AMD has headed down this path. Method again in 2016, AMD’s high-end Vega GPU was floundering in improvement, and the corporate centered on the mid-range with its Polaris structure. The ensuing Radeon RX 480 redefined what was potential in a $200 graphics card and proved to be an enormous success for AMD. (Although it didn’t put a dent in Radeon’s long-term market share, regardless of “worth point-wise, we’ll have management” mainly summarizing AMD’s positioning in opposition to Nvidia ever since.)

Again then, nonetheless, graphics playing cards weren’t used for cryptocurrency or machine studying duties on the ranges they’re now. Right this moment, builders are clamoring for Nvidia alternate options. And the gaming market itself actually regarded totally different in 2016 than it does now; then, the RX 480 might ship stable 1440p gameplay for $200; now, $300 to $400 graphics playing cards are technologically designed to work greatest with 1080p gaming alone. The GPU market and its pricing is a multitude for players proper now.

A mainstream savior is required. Intel’s first-gen Arc GPUs took a stab at it, however driver woes held them again through the essential launch window. Can a renewed give attention to inexpensive GPUs woo players (and builders) over to Group Crimson? It feels like we’ll see subsequent era.