When a manufacturer launches a certain line of graphics cards, we are used to seeing everything from the most basic and cheapest models to p...
When a manufacturer launches a certain line of graphics cards, we are used to seeing everything from the most basic and cheapest models to powerful high-end ones. However, recently an AMD executive said that in each generation there will be fewer graphics cards under $200.We can no longer have GPUs under 200 dollars on the market
Recently, Scott Herkelman, director of AMD's Radeon division, gave an interview to the Club386 channel where he discussed several topics, with a focus on the recently launched Radeon RX 7800 XT and the future of this sector. And according to the executive, we may soon no longer have lower-priced graphics card models on the market.
Specifically, when discussing the topic of graphics in the low-end segment, which are the entry-level and cheapest models, Herkelman said:
"There are future limitations to smaller dies in that they produce affordable silicon that offers good performance benefits generation after generation. The smaller the die produced, the more difficult it is to achieve this increase in performance relative to cost."
We will start to see some slowdown in the roadmaps below discrete GPU prices between $150 and $200. That's the challenge of inflation, the challenge of Moore's Law and the market we're in right now.
In short, it seems that producing a cheaper graphics card is starting to be unprofitable for companies, given the cost of the wafers. But, to overcome the possible extinction of these cheaper models, it seems that the alternative will be APUs, a designation given to chips that integrate processors (CPU) and graphics cards (GPU). In this field, the executive says that " at AMD we have APUs that can improve performance. You will start to see that APUs are very good in this price range, where we normally see a discrete GPU. This will only get stronger as time goes on. " .
In this sense, the Radeon director says that if the desktop PC user overcomes the mental barrier and opts for an APU instead of a basic discrete GPU, then they will discover that " these chips allow you to play most electronic sports games very well ".
In the interview, Herkelman also responds to other curiosities, namely that AMD begins to design and develop its new architectures as soon as the first graphics card with the previous architecture is launched on the market. Therefore, as we now have the RDNA 3 architecture, the next RDNA 4 has been in preparation for a long time.
