AMD talks PC GPU ray tracing as it looks to the future of Ryzen and Radeon

At long last, its next-generation RDNA 2 graphics architecture will include hardware ray tracing.

- MARK HACHMAN

AMD confirmed recently that its next-generation RDNA 2 graphics architecture will be its first to include hardware ray tracing, and that it will advance performance-per-watt improvements by an additional 50 percent over its current designs. The company also plans to add a compute specific version of its GPUs, dubbed “CDNA.”

AMD has traditionally used its financial analyst meetings to provide insight into its future strategy in the CPU and GPU markets, especially with regard to the PC, mobile, and server spaces. It’s the latter market in which AMD is driving hard, as enterprise and scientific markets are willing to pay top dollar for a high-margin Epyc processor—the sort of boon financial analysts like to hear about.

AMD habitually offers more insight into its server road maps as a way of building credibility with customers, chief marketing officer John Taylor said in advance of the call. In this case, however, the company is sharing details on key technologies that will benefit the PC as well as other segments: a new “X3D” packaging technology that will complement its existing “chiplet” designs; a “CDNA” compute-intensive version of its GPUs; and RDNA 2 and 3, the evolution of the “Navi” GPU architecture that should include hardware ray tracing.

Lisa Su, AMD’s chief executive officer, began by noting that, first and foremost, AMD is playing to its strengths: high performance in graphics, CPU, and solutions that include the two. “This is the fundamental DNA of our company,” she said.

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