AMD is seemingly updating the layout of its upcoming RDNA 5 graphics architecture, doubling the amount of Stream Multiprocessors (SM) found inside each Compute Unit (CU). According to leaker zhangzhonghao on the Chiphell forums, Team Red plans to increase the number of SMs per CU from 64 to 128.
RDNA 5 was already expected to boast 50% more compute units than the current flagship Radeon 9070 XT. So, assuming this rumour is correct, these much-awaited Radeon GPUs would end up bigger and faster than expected. As a reminder, RDNA 5 is said to house 96CUs, meaning that each chip would carry 12,288 SMs.
That said, it is unknown if this doubling in SM will have a large impact on performance. Logically, such a change should boost performance, but AMD may opt for some sort of denser, smaller SM design that delivers less oomph than its predecessor, which would negate some of the gains offered by the higher SM count.
Assuming performance remains the same between the old and new SM designs, the 96 CUs of the upcoming RDNA 5 GPUs should perform like a massive 192-CU chip that uses the older 64-SM-per-CU format. Now, compare that to the RX 9070 XT’s 64 CUs, which already deliver nice performance, and you begin seeing the potential of next-gen Radeon graphics. With such performance on hand, AMD may finally close the gap between its flagship and Nvidia’s halo-tier products, to the pleasure of enthusiasts and gamers.
But wait, there is more. Leaker Moore’s Law Is Dead (MLID) on YouTube has also shared some insight on this upcoming architecture, indicating that AMD is planning an enormous 184-CU GPU. This monster chip is said to connect via a 512-bit wide bus to unknown amounts of 36Gb/s GDDR7 memory while sharing a maximum of 600W TDP.
While we surely won’t complain about a massive 184-CU design where each CU houses 128 SMs, such a chip seems too big to become reality. Assuming MLID is correct, this would push RDNA 5’s performance to a level it may beat Nvidia’s next-gen flagship GeForce 60 Series card. Otherwise, MLID could have estimated the CU count based on the usual 64 SM per CU, in which case the GPU would be less impressive. My money is on the latter being true.
Until AMD officially reveals the RDNA 5 architecture, we can, as always, only speculate. For the time being, the consensus seems to indicate large and powerful GPUs, which is good news. What is sure is that a bigger chip won’t come cheap, so better start saving for your next-gen Radeon.
