It’s no secret that parts shortages are heavily to blame for AMD CPUs and GPUs, like the Radeon RX 6700 XT, being so hard to find in stock. Still, there might be good news for those who are holding out for the next generation, as AMD Zen 4 and RDNA 3 components apparently remain “on track” for a 2022 launch.
As reported by TechSpot, AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su confirmed in an investor call neither Zen 4 Ryzen CPUs nor RDNA 3 Radeon RX GPUs are expected to get pushed back into 2023.
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Anyone who’s tried to find where to buy the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 will attest how a heady blend of production problems, an active scalper market and boosted demand from cryptocurrency miners has made it nearly impossible to simply buy a new graphics card.
CPUs haven’t been immune from similar pressures. The AMD Ryzen 5000 series, which is based on the Zen 3 architecture, is available with relative ease nowadays but was previously as rare as AMD’s GPUs.
It might, therefore, come as a relief to hear that AMD’s next-gen components will launch as planned. Whether they’ll launch with enough stock to meet demand, however, will be another thing entirely.
As for what exactly you can expect from these 2022-bound components, AMD itself hasn’t been as forthcoming with details — other than Zen 4 using an ultra-fine 5-nanometer manufacturing process, down from 7nm on its Zen 3 chips.
We’ve also heard various RDNA 3 rumors, like it potentially being the basis of a Navi 33 GPU that matches the existing Navi 21 processor, albeit using a next-gen graphics core. Just this week there’s also been word of a new flagship Navi 31 GPU to take over from the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT.
Whatever AMD is cooking up, at least we know broadly when to expect it. Some PC owners, if they’re frustrated at the ongoing lack of current-gen graphics cards, may even want to wait for this next generation instead.
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