Forget Big Navi, AMD Might Be Preparing The Ultimate Navi

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While Apple has dumped Intel on the processor side, the tech giant still holds a bit of fondness for AMD. According to Hardware Leaks, Apple's macOS 11 Big Sur Developer Beta 1 code reveals a plethora of future Radeon graphics cards and Radeon Instinct accelerators from AMD.

The eye opener from the multiple lines of code is the inclusion of a Navi 31-powered graphics card. Given the name of the silicon, it's easy to infer that the die will likely leverage the RDNA 3 GPU microarchitecture. As per AMD's last roadmap, the tentative time frame for a RDNA 3 launch is the end of 2022. The slide referenced an "advanced node," which doesn't really tell us anything concrete. If we want to be optimistic, it could be the famed 5nm process node from TSMC.

Big Sur reportedly supports six different Big Navi (RDNA 2) graphics cards. More specifically, the code points to the Navi 22 and Navi 23 dies. AMD has already touted 50% higher performance per watt on RDNA 2 in comparison to RDNA 1. The chipmaker has already delivered an excess of Linux patches for a bizarre "Sienna Cichlid" graphics card that many have speculated to be Big Navi.

On the enterprise side, Apple seemingly added support for the Radeon Instinct MI100 and MI200 accelerators. The Radeon Instinct MI100 is rumored to be the famous Arcturus offering that could be an improved iteration of the current Vega microarchitecture. It's not written in stone, but Arcturus should feature TSMC's 7nm FinFET manufacturing process like the other Radeon Instinct accelerators. But the MI100 is only the tip of iceberg as the MI200 should be another beast completely. Sadly, we haven't seen any early signs of the MI200 yet.

Other Easter eggs in Big Sur's code include honorable mentions of two upcoming AMD APUs. Cezanne is the rumored codename for the Ryzen 5000-series APUs. The alleged Zen 3 chips might arrive next year to replace the existing Ryzen 4000-series (codename Renoir) APUs. It's uncertain if AMD will retain the use of the Vega microarchitecture for Cezanne or finally transition to Navi, which everyone is longing for.

Lastly, Van Gogh might arrive in a low-power package to compete against Intel's Y-series offerings. The current gossip around Van Gogh is that it continues to use the Zen 2 microarchitecture. Once again, the APU's graphics engine is unknown.

Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • vinay2070
    Yes, AMD has been preparing the Ultimate Navi for quite some time now. Almost since 6 years. Better be big. I have hopes one day HL3 might be released. But Big Navi? Wait for Big Navi....
    Reply
  • King_V
    vinay2070 said:
    Yes, AMD has been preparing the Ultimate Navi for quite some time now. Almost since 6 years.

    The first Polaris cards (RX 400 series) were introduced FOUR years ago. Where are you getting this "almost 6 years" number from for Navi?
    Reply
  • grimfox
    King_V said:
    The first Polaris cards (RX 400 series) were introduced FOUR years ago. Where are you getting this "almost 6 years" number from for Navi?

    Pretty sure it's just some hyperbole. We've been "waiting" for big navi so long that the next navi seems like it'll be even further out. I think that a reference to Half life 3, the epitome of things to wait for.
    Reply
  • Baron Munchausen
    Actually let us just wait to see what AMD puts out. Yes yes I know website's have to keep the 'Hype' up on tech stuff but really you know what is going to happen..AMD will give the real specs and then the public will call it a 'let down' or 'this was not anything near the hype' etc etc.

    When the hype for the 5700 was running wild (remember), then it was released and it was more geared to the 1080p for gaming instead of 2/4k gaming, there was some serious letdown for many people. One would think people will learn to not take the hype as gospel BUT it seems many people just will not learn.
    Reply
  • vinay2070
    Baron Munchausen said:
    Actually let us just wait to see what AMD puts out. Yes yes I know website's have to keep the 'Hype' up on tech stuff but really you know what is going to happen..AMD will give the real specs and then the public will call it a 'let down' or 'this was not anything near the hype' etc etc.

    When the hype for the 5700 was running wild (remember), then it was released and it was more geared to the 1080p for gaming instead of 2/4k gaming, there was some serious letdown for many people. One would think people will learn to not take the hype as gospel BUT it seems many people just will not learn.
    AMD has said big Navi is going to be geared at 4K with Ray Tracing. They better keep up to it. I mean there are now UWQHD 144Hz displays out. Products for 2K 60Hz isnt gonna cut it. However small the market is, a lot of AMD fans still wait for something that performs better. And yet they are yet to put out cards that can barely compete with the 4 year old 1080ti.
    Reply
  • vinay2070
    grimfox said:
    Pretty sure it's just some hyperbole. We've been "waiting" for big navi so long that the next navi seems like it'll be even further out. I think that a reference to Half life 3, the epitome of things to wait for.
    Thats exactly what i meant. Wait for good performing navi now feels like it has been forever!
    Reply
  • Baron Munchausen
    vinay2070 said:
    AMD has said big Navi is going to be geared at 4K with Ray Tracing. They better keep up to it. I mean there are now UWQHD 144Hz displays out. Products for 2K 60Hz isnt gonna cut it. However small the market is, a lot of AMD fans still wait for something that performs better. And yet they are yet to put out cards that can barely compete with the 4 year old 1080ti.
    Correct. I just recently upgraded to a AOC 34CUG2x ultrawide monitor (coming from a ASUS 1080p monitor the AOC is SOO much better at gaming) and using a Radeon VII which is a BEAST of a GPU (plus I do use it for other things than gaming which I have no buyers remorse here) so I am set for a while GPU wise but others do not.. Time for AMD to really really think big for gaming. 2k is climbing the charts to becoming the main for casual gaming and 4k is not far beind (for those who have the $$ for 4k monitors). Unfortunately we now live in a time that it might cost more for a GPU than it has in the past but AMD should give a GPU that is worthy, not just one to pass the time.
    Reply
  • Deicidium369
    AMD Launch Cycle

    HYPE HYPE HYPE LAUNCH SIGH! NEXT So with "Big Navi" not even released yet, they have already moved the Hype Train to NEXT "Really Big, Seriously Big, Massive Navi". Looks like AMD realizes that Ampere is more than a match for Big Navi (actually more of a match for 2080TI) and that the next thing after "Big Navi" will be needed to compete. Looks like they were not able to source the Unobtanium from the Navii
    grimfox said:
    Pretty sure it's just some hyperbole. We've been "waiting" for big navi so long that the next navi seems like it'll be even further out. I think that a reference to Half life 3, the epitome of things to wait for.
    Sounds to me like reality setting in at AMD - they thought 2080Ti performance was the target, then Nvidia does what functional companies with actual revenue and a real R&D dept does - releases a new product. You will never get the last space invader if you are shooting where it is, rather then where it will be.
    Reply
  • clsmithj
    I hopped on last year with the first wave of NAVI , RDNA1. A year before that I bought a VEGA 56, two of them. I'm good on the AMD side for now.
    Reply
  • hannibal
    They talk about navi31 that may actually be very small Navi! Very low energy version for Apple computers. So it will be ultimate expensive, butbit is not even bigger Navi. People Are expecting bigger because it has bigger Number, bud amd use bigger Number if it later product, not the size...
    Reply