If the rumour is true that AMD's RDNA4 GPU is 45% faster at ray tracing compared to a 7900 XTX, and is on par with a RTX 4080 in raster I'm going to buy six of them

Ray tracing is one area that AMD's graphics cards could improve. The latest rumours suggest that AMD's RDNA 4 GPUs will get a significant boost in ray tracing.

According to zhangzhonghao, a well-known Chiphell forum member (via Sweclockers), the upcoming Radeon RX8800 XT should deliver a 45% improvement in ray tracing performance over the current Radeon RX7900 XTX. If true, this is a massive improvement in AMD's most weak metric.

The 8800 XT, if that's what AMD calls it, will not be at the top of the market. AMD has stated that RDNA 4 is not aimed at the top-tier graphics cards. These rumours suggest that it will still offer far more ray tracing power than its current top-end graphics card.

This would imply a massive ray-tracing performance boost compared to, say, the current Radeon RX7800 XT. The new GPU is likely to be better aligned in terms of positioning the market towards the upper end mid range.

The same rumour claims the 8800 XT's raster performance will be more or less on par with an RTX 4000- or 4080-Super. If the 8800 XT can offer all of this and is priced at or near the 7800 XT (currently available for $450), it will be the most compelling GPU ever.

It all sounds too good for it to be true. Pricing is the most obvious factor that could ruin the party, even though the performance estimates are accurate. What are the chances that AMD will price its product at $600 or $700?

All of this is a wait-and-see situation. AMD has a history of undercutting Nvidia by a large margin. AMD launched the Radeon HD4870 in 2008, which offered 80% of Nvidia’s top-end GPU performance for less than half the price.

Could we see something similar again? I doubt it a little, but I am still hopeful. If it happens, I will buy six of these things as a token of my appreciation. Maybe.