PS5 and Xbox Series X could be crushed by AMD’s Big Navi graphics

PS5 and Xbox Series X could exist crushed past AMD'south Large Navi graphics

(Prototype credit: AMD)

Sony's PS5 and Microsoft's Xbox Series X may be coming out effectually November only they could be beaten past a powerful new AMD Radon graphics menu built on the same tech.

AMD's CFO Devinder Kumar noted that the so-called 'Big Navi' graphics carte du jour volition be AMD's next wave of graphics cards that will apply its new RDNA 2 GPU compages and is on runway to launch "belatedly 2020". That snippet of information along with other leaks so far all point towards a new powerful Radon graphics card coming out effectually October fourth dimension, ahead of the new game consoles.

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"1 of the things on the gaming side is in that location's a lot of excitement for Navi two or what our fans have dubbed as the Large Navi," said Kumar in a presentation for the Depository financial institution of America Securities Global Technology Conference transcribed by Seeking Alpha. "This will be our first RDNA 2 base production. Big Navi is a halo product, enthusiasts love to buy the best, and we are certainly working on giving them the all-time."

The "halo" scrap is the nearly notable part of that, as the Big Navi graphics card is set to be a loftier-end GPU to take on the very best graphics cards from Nvidia, such as the GeForce RTX 2080 Super and RTX 2080 Ti. For AMD fans, this is likely the GeForce-killing graphics card they've been waiting for.

Every bit the Big Navi menu, or indeed cards, will use AMD'south new RDNA 2 GPU architecture, we tin expect it to not but be powerful only besides have actress capabilities, such as AMD'south take on ray-tracing. And they could as well give united states a sense of taste of the performance we can expect from the Xbox Series 10 and PS5, as both are using custom AMD graphics that are based on RDNA 2.

AMD vs Nvidia vs consoles

Now before yous rush to the comments, we appreciate that the vast variation in gaming PC configurations means comparing the all-time gaming PC to a games console tin can seem a little odd. Only Xbox Series Ten and PS5 games will be optimized to run also every bit they can on the RDNA 2-based graphics chips in the upcoming consoles. That ways that a PC with a Big Navi graphics bill of fare could likewise benefit from those optimizations given both platforms are tapping into the aforementioned underlying architecture.

In effect, this could - and we emphasize the word could equally it'due south also early on to tell - lead to AMD based PCs handling next-generation games improve than PCs equipped with Nvidia GeForce graphics. The flipside to this is Nvidia is due to bring out high-terminate graphics cards that use its new Ampere GPU architecture, significant a bill of fare such equally the rumored GeForce RTX 3080 could have a big hike in power that once again puts Nvidia's graphics tech back on top.

Only if zippo else Big Navi could bring more competition into the high-end graphics card arena for gaming PCs. That could non just result in more powerful graphics cards, simply as well ones that are aggressively priced every bit AMD and Nvidia duke it out for the top position.

If Big Navi does indeed come out before the PS5 and Xbox Series X then there's a take chances it could prompt people to opt for a gaming PC over a new console.

Gaming PCs are far from inexpensive with many costing well north of $ane,000. But the PS5 isn't looking to be equally affordable as the PS4 was at launch, probable costing effectually $500. So there'south an argument for shelling out on a gaming PC that uses the similar underlying tech equally the upcoming consoles, but could offering a lot more ability, is upgradable, and has admission to literally decades upon decades of games, rather than offer somewhat lackluster backwards compatibility.

Either way, with new games consoles slated to arrive at some point in November and new graphics cards set up to come out a little earlier, the second half of 2020 looks to be a great time for gaming hardware fans.

Roland Moore-Colyer is U.K. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and stance articles. He often writes virtually gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland tin can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face up.