AMD Next Gen Radeon Navi 22 And Navi 23 7nm+ GPUs Spied In Linux Driver
AMD's current generation GPUs powering its Radeon RX 5700 XT, Radeon RX 5700, and Radeon RX 5500 graphics cards are not the end of the road for Navi. We know there will be a later version that will support real-time ray tracing on the hardware level. As we wait for what comes next, a couple of unannounced, next-gen Navi GPUs have been spotted in a Linux driver.
Credit goes to 3DCenter.org forum member Berniyh, who posted links to the driver details on GitHub. There are not many details to go on—basically just the names, which include Navi 23, Navi 22, and Navi 21. As points of reference, here's a rundown of AMD's current generation Navi GPUs, and which cards they each power...
- Navi 10: Radeon RX 5700 XT and Radeon RX 5700
- Navi 14: Radeon RX 5500 series
There could also be a Navi 12 GPU in the works. At the end of September, the same site posted leaked details of both Navi 14 and Navi 12, the former of which was just recently confirmed when AMD launched its Radeon RX 5500 series. It's possible there could be a Radeon RX 5600 in the not-too-distant future.
As to the Navi 23, Navi 22, and Navi 21 GPUs, the references in the Linux driver do not offer up any concrete details, such as the number of stream processors or what eventual graphics cards they each will shop up in. However, we are reasonably confident Navi 21 will be the most powerful of the bunch, based on AMD's ranking nomenclature.
Another assumption is these GPUs will be based on an enhanced 7-nanometer manufacturing process (7nm+), and built around a second-gen version of Radeon DNA (RDNA 2.0). This is merely speculation, though, and if were going down that road, let's also assume that at least one of these will feature ray tracing hardware.
We know ray tracing is in Navi's future, because Sony confirmed its next-gen PlayStation 5 console will have it on the hardware level, and will be powered by a custom Navi GPU (and Zen 2 CPU). The PS5 is due out in holiday 2020.
