Kataploom
Gold Member
Hi GAF.
I wanted to share with you details from a juicy interview to Frank Azor, Chief Architech of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing from AMD.
The interview was done in spanish by a latinamerican Tech Youtuber, Michael Quesada, and there's a A LOT of information about AMD GPU strategy, here are some keypoints for the GPU section from myself:
1. They decided to not mess it up this time and rather observe Nvidia and respond more appropriately, so the actual reveal is set for a later date
2. He says that most gamers these days don't want to spend $1000 in a GPU, they released $1000 GPUs last gen but only got a very favorable response from the market when they lowered the prices and released the 7900 GRE.
3. The new GPUs won't cost $300 but they won't cost $1000 either, because 90% of gaming market is anywhere in between
4. FSR 4 requires lots of Machine Learning power, that's the reason why it's RDNA 4 exclusive, but they're making efforts to optimize it as much as possible so """"maybe"""" they can put it in RDNA 3 too.
5. They understand that a ML solution has much better quality, but they won't stop investing in FSR 3, it's still continuing to evolve.
6. RDNA 4 has "much much better, but muuuuuch better" Raytracing performance, he insists saying it twice in the interview
7. Developing a GPU chip is expensive in part because of how many chips have to be developed and that the prices of all of them spread accros all the model prices, so they rather focused on a more limited selection to keep prices as low as possible in the range that most gamers put their money on
8. He says that AMD have been learning a lot from their mistakes on the GPU segment
9. There are comments about the new CPU and the new mobile chip but they're not too relevant IMO
Here's the video so you can see it with Automated English CC:
I wanted to share with you details from a juicy interview to Frank Azor, Chief Architech of Gaming Solutions and Gaming Marketing from AMD.
The interview was done in spanish by a latinamerican Tech Youtuber, Michael Quesada, and there's a A LOT of information about AMD GPU strategy, here are some keypoints for the GPU section from myself:
1. They decided to not mess it up this time and rather observe Nvidia and respond more appropriately, so the actual reveal is set for a later date
2. He says that most gamers these days don't want to spend $1000 in a GPU, they released $1000 GPUs last gen but only got a very favorable response from the market when they lowered the prices and released the 7900 GRE.
3. The new GPUs won't cost $300 but they won't cost $1000 either, because 90% of gaming market is anywhere in between
4. FSR 4 requires lots of Machine Learning power, that's the reason why it's RDNA 4 exclusive, but they're making efforts to optimize it as much as possible so """"maybe"""" they can put it in RDNA 3 too.
5. They understand that a ML solution has much better quality, but they won't stop investing in FSR 3, it's still continuing to evolve.
6. RDNA 4 has "much much better, but muuuuuch better" Raytracing performance, he insists saying it twice in the interview
7. Developing a GPU chip is expensive in part because of how many chips have to be developed and that the prices of all of them spread accros all the model prices, so they rather focused on a more limited selection to keep prices as low as possible in the range that most gamers put their money on
8. He says that AMD have been learning a lot from their mistakes on the GPU segment
9. There are comments about the new CPU and the new mobile chip but they're not too relevant IMO
Here's the video so you can see it with Automated English CC:
### Summary
In a recent interview, Frank, a marketing and gaming executive from AMD, discusses the highly anticipated launch of AMD's new graphics cards, specifically the 9070 and 9070 XT. He reflects on the company's strategic decision to wait and observe competitors’ announcements before revealing their own products, emphasizing that this approach fosters healthy market competition and ultimately benefits consumers. The conversation also touches on AMD’s commitment to providing high-performance graphics cards at reasonable prices, the advancements in their architecture for ray tracing, and the introduction of new processors. Frank reassures viewers that the upcoming products will offer significant improvements in performance, particularly with features like FSR 4 and enhanced ray tracing capabilities. He also provides insights into the latest AMD processors and their suitability for gaming and content creation, emphasizing the balance between power and cost.
### Highlights
-
AMD waits to react to competitors, ensuring better competition in the market.
-
Frank emphasizes the importance of time management in product announcements.
-
New graphics cards will focus on competitive pricing and performance.
-
FSR 4 will significantly improve machine learning capabilities.
-
Enhancements in ray tracing performance are on the horizon.
-
New processors aim to cater to both gamers and content creators.
-
Transparency from AMD is crucial in avoiding misinformation and speculation.
### Key Insights
-
**Strategic Market Observation**: Frank discusses AMD's decision to observe competitors like NVIDIA before announcing their new graphics cards. This strategic patience allows AMD to position its products more effectively in the market, potentially leading to better performance and pricing for consumers. By waiting, AMD can develop products that not only meet but exceed what competitors offer, fostering a competitive landscape that ultimately benefits gamers and consumers alike.
-
**Time Constraints in Announcements**: With only 45 minutes allocated for their press conference, AMD faced challenges in delivering comprehensive information about their new graphics cards. Frank highlights that the limited timeframe forced them to streamline their presentation, which meant some topics had to be saved for future announcements. This underlines the importance of time management in marketing and product launches, where conveying critical information efficiently is essential to maintain audience interest.
-
**Focus on Pricing and Value**: AMD aims to maintain a philosophy of providing high-quality products at competitive prices. Frank asserts that the new graphics cards will not be priced excessively, targeting a market willing to spend less than $1000. This approach aims to address consumer frustrations with rising prices in the gaming market while still offering powerful and robust products that deliver excellent performance per dollar.
-
**Advancements in Ray Tracing**: The conversation touches on the improvements in ray tracing performance for the new graphics cards. Frank notes that there is now a more extensive library of games supporting ray tracing, making it a valuable feature for gamers. This suggests that AMD is committed to not just following trends but enhancing their technology to align with current gaming demands.
-
**FSR 4 Enhancements**: AMD is excited about the potential of FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) 4, which promises to enhance gaming graphics through advanced machine learning techniques. Frank indicates that FSR 4 will be designed to work across a wide range of devices, reflecting AMD's strategy of making high-quality graphics accessible to more gamers. This commitment to compatibility and performance highlights AMD's focus on innovation.
- **Processor Versatility**: The discussion also shifts to the new processors, particularly the 9950 X3D, which is positioned as a superior option for gamers who also engage in content creation. Frank differentiates between the needs of pure gamers and those who multitask, suggesting that AMD is keenly aware of market segmentation and is catering to diverse user needs through its product offerings.
-
**Transparent Communication**: Frank emphasizes the importance of transparency in AMD's communication with consumers. By openly discussing product development timelines and performance expectations, AMD seeks to build trust with its audience and mitigate speculation. This approach is essential in an industry often fraught with rumors and misinformation, making AMD a brand that consumers can rely on for accurate information.
### Conclusion
The interview with Frank provides an insightful look into AMD's current strategies and product launches. As the gaming industry continues to evolve, AMD's commitment to transparency, competitive pricing, and innovation positions it as a key player in the market. Consumers can look forward to impressive advancements in graphics performance, particularly with the new 9070 series graphics cards and the FSR 4 technology. By focusing on consumer needs and maintaining a dynamic approach to product development, AMD is set to enhance the gaming experience for both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
In a recent interview, Frank, a marketing and gaming executive from AMD, discusses the highly anticipated launch of AMD's new graphics cards, specifically the 9070 and 9070 XT. He reflects on the company's strategic decision to wait and observe competitors’ announcements before revealing their own products, emphasizing that this approach fosters healthy market competition and ultimately benefits consumers. The conversation also touches on AMD’s commitment to providing high-performance graphics cards at reasonable prices, the advancements in their architecture for ray tracing, and the introduction of new processors. Frank reassures viewers that the upcoming products will offer significant improvements in performance, particularly with features like FSR 4 and enhanced ray tracing capabilities. He also provides insights into the latest AMD processors and their suitability for gaming and content creation, emphasizing the balance between power and cost.
### Highlights
-
AMD waits to react to competitors, ensuring better competition in the market.-
Frank emphasizes the importance of time management in product announcements.-
New graphics cards will focus on competitive pricing and performance.-
FSR 4 will significantly improve machine learning capabilities.-
Enhancements in ray tracing performance are on the horizon.-
New processors aim to cater to both gamers and content creators.-
Transparency from AMD is crucial in avoiding misinformation and speculation.### Key Insights
-
**Strategic Market Observation**: Frank discusses AMD's decision to observe competitors like NVIDIA before announcing their new graphics cards. This strategic patience allows AMD to position its products more effectively in the market, potentially leading to better performance and pricing for consumers. By waiting, AMD can develop products that not only meet but exceed what competitors offer, fostering a competitive landscape that ultimately benefits gamers and consumers alike.-
**Time Constraints in Announcements**: With only 45 minutes allocated for their press conference, AMD faced challenges in delivering comprehensive information about their new graphics cards. Frank highlights that the limited timeframe forced them to streamline their presentation, which meant some topics had to be saved for future announcements. This underlines the importance of time management in marketing and product launches, where conveying critical information efficiently is essential to maintain audience interest.-
**Focus on Pricing and Value**: AMD aims to maintain a philosophy of providing high-quality products at competitive prices. Frank asserts that the new graphics cards will not be priced excessively, targeting a market willing to spend less than $1000. This approach aims to address consumer frustrations with rising prices in the gaming market while still offering powerful and robust products that deliver excellent performance per dollar.-
**Advancements in Ray Tracing**: The conversation touches on the improvements in ray tracing performance for the new graphics cards. Frank notes that there is now a more extensive library of games supporting ray tracing, making it a valuable feature for gamers. This suggests that AMD is committed to not just following trends but enhancing their technology to align with current gaming demands.-
**FSR 4 Enhancements**: AMD is excited about the potential of FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) 4, which promises to enhance gaming graphics through advanced machine learning techniques. Frank indicates that FSR 4 will be designed to work across a wide range of devices, reflecting AMD's strategy of making high-quality graphics accessible to more gamers. This commitment to compatibility and performance highlights AMD's focus on innovation.-
**Processor Versatility**: The discussion also shifts to the new processors, particularly the 9950 X3D, which is positioned as a superior option for gamers who also engage in content creation. Frank differentiates between the needs of pure gamers and those who multitask, suggesting that AMD is keenly aware of market segmentation and is catering to diverse user needs through its product offerings.-
**Transparent Communication**: Frank emphasizes the importance of transparency in AMD's communication with consumers. By openly discussing product development timelines and performance expectations, AMD seeks to build trust with its audience and mitigate speculation. This approach is essential in an industry often fraught with rumors and misinformation, making AMD a brand that consumers can rely on for accurate information.### Conclusion
The interview with Frank provides an insightful look into AMD's current strategies and product launches. As the gaming industry continues to evolve, AMD's commitment to transparency, competitive pricing, and innovation positions it as a key player in the market. Consumers can look forward to impressive advancements in graphics performance, particularly with the new 9070 series graphics cards and the FSR 4 technology. By focusing on consumer needs and maintaining a dynamic approach to product development, AMD is set to enhance the gaming experience for both casual and hardcore gamers alike.
"They're dominant, right? So why not just see what they do and react to that? Much better, much better. With the words of 'much better, way better.' Ah, friends, we're here with Frank. Frank, great to see you! It's awesome to run into you again. Well, to see you again! Frank handles marketing and gaming for the region, and last year we had a really good interview about that. Frank went viral; people really liked it."
So you made the effort to do it in Spanish, right? You said you're from Cuba, but your family migrated to the United States, is that right? My parents came, and my grandparents did too, back in '59 from Cuba to Miami. I grew up in a house where we spoke Spanish, but living in the U.S., you go to school and everything, and you totally forget it. You take Spanish classes, but it's a bit different, you know? And you're speaking English most of the time. So, my dad... oh, he's not around anymore.
"Honestly, I’ve been practicing less and less. I think the last time I had a conversation in Spanish was with you last year. Fran told me he doesn’t have anyone to talk to in Spanish, so we really appreciate your effort. Of course, I can’t really have a full conversation in Spanish. Yeah, I get it, speaking in English is good practice. But anyway, Frank, there are a few topics we’re going to cover today, and I don't think I can start the interview without asking you what it was..."
What happened with the announcement? We were expecting the new AMD graphics cards, the 9070 and 9070 XT. The presentation came, and we were like, "What happened to the cards? Where are they?" Fran, I wish we could start with that topic. Are they here? Well, yeah, they’re here. Let’s do it. Everything’s on schedule. Okay, cool. We’re really happy with how the card is performing. Everything’s good, no issues or delays or anything like that. I can tell you that easily.
"That the computing team was going to announce their cards, and it’s better to wait and see how they respond to what they’re going to do, okay? They’re the dominant players, right? So why not just watch what they’re going to do, wait, and react to that? It’s good for everyone because it creates more competition. And who benefits from competition? So it’s a smart move for that reason. And the second reason, to be honest, we only had 45 minutes to handle everything with the press. Yeah, they don’t give you more time."
"We had limited time because the schedule was really tight, so people had to move quickly to the next thing. If you saw everything we announced at the press conference, we couldn’t fit it all in because we ran out of time, so we had to cut a few things. We were looking at all the content for the graphics and kept trimming it down. Honestly, we were just trying to keep it manageable."
"We're usually announcing things here like we did for the RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 events. We had dedicated events to explain the architecture and the reasons behind it, along with the performance advancements in FSR, all in about 5 minutes. But that's just not feasible. If we tried to rush it, everyone would be upset with us for not giving graphics the attention they deserve. So, we've decided to hold off a bit and keep this for a separate announcement about graphics. Stay tuned, we'll have an announcement soon!"
So, basically, you're telling me that AMD isn't ready to share a release date or price yet, right? They're still figuring those things out. I mean, we have some ideas, and I know what’s going on, but come on, you’re not great at lying. Seriously, you’re not. It's really interesting information though. Look, decisions have been made, and we know what we want to do, but we just need things to happen and for the products to come out as planned.
"We're going to bring a really compelling product, let's say a very competitive one, and everyone is going to benefit from it. I find what Frank said really interesting. As you can see, AMD just waited to make their next move. And as Frank said, in the end, it's us, the consumers, who win. This was just a little gossip, as we say, about what happened, since people online are speculating a lot about what this was, what that was, whether someone got sick, and so on."
"There are thousands of things here. Let’s see if we can check them out when I get a chance to say hi. Look, what I’m saying is this is complicated. It’s not easy, and yeah, it hurts that so many people were expecting the news, and how can we say it? We didn’t give it to them, you know? I get it because there are a lot of people who are, let’s say, really disappointed about that. I totally understand how they feel. But what I’m telling you is it’s going to be worth the wait. We’re talking about the cards."
What can you tell me about them? We can talk about their performance and capabilities. We've got two flavors: the 9070 and the 9070 XT. And it’s a bit of an awkward question, but why doesn’t AMD push for more? Does it have to do with competition? For sure. Look, I’ll tell you, in two generations, we did that. We started making cards with 000, and when you want to create a whole stack, you need three or four chips. That takes a lot of resources, not just people but money too.
The thing is, the mid to low-end chips cost more because of the money and resources you invested at the higher levels, and everyone has to cover that. So, the competition has made progress and has features that people want. When folks are willing to spend over a thousand bucks on a graphics card, most of them want everything out there and the best brand available.
"That's not okay, that's not our advantage. With the RNA A3, we had a card like the 7800 and the 7900 GR, and when we set a really good, aggressive price and performance level, the market responded really well for us. We learned that in an economy where prices just keep rising, it can get a bit expensive, you know? And it's going up too because when we raise our prices, the others do too."
"When are we going to stop? Gamers are buying graphics cards for less than $000, and the mid-range options are not cutting it. A lot of times, gamers and people get frustrated with the prices of different things, and a lot of that is because we're stuck in this situation. So, can you tell me if AMD still wants to be a company that provides good quality at a fair price? I mean, a company that gives me a solid product without breaking the bank."
We're still sticking to that philosophy at AMD. When we announced the Radeon 400 series, we said we’d be launching a card that's going to be powerful and robust. It’s not going to be just a basic card, but it’s also not going to be top-of-the-line. Just a little hint: it’ll range from 300 to 1000. Sounds interesting, right? We're aiming to deliver something that most people will see and think, "This is a great product at a good price with a lot of power." We believe they’re really going to love it.
"I really like it, and it's going to be much more around the cards I mentioned, like the 78T, in terms of power and price. When you look at the benchmarks, you see, 'Hey, that's a good value for the price-to-performance ratio,' which we call price-to-performance. It's really good. That's going to be the strategy for the RNA 4 instead of what we're doing now. Honestly, I'm just trying to... you know, yeah, strategy. Okay, perfect. Now we have some news: we have the FCR 4 for these video cards, right? What can we do?"
"Looking forward to this new feature, and it’ll be available on the previous 7000 and 6000 series cards. They gave me a bit of a heads-up about it. Okay, so this is one of those things you can’t really explain in just five minutes at a press conference. But yeah, we’ll go into it more when we officially announce the card. We decided to make some changes, and we did a few things with the architecture that we’ll elaborate on. First off, we improved performance, especially with ray tracing. A lot."
"Way more than the usual generation after generation. Why? Because now we finally have a library, a selection of games with ray tracing. There are a lot of games—let's say a huge library. Exactly, before there were like 10 games, maybe 25 or 50 games, but honestly, most people weren’t playing those games; they were just there to show off the PCs, you know? But now, even games are coming out with ray tracing as the standard feature."
So, now's the time when that really matters, especially for hardcore gamers. The right moment to jump in is now. The second thing is that FSR isn’t stopping; FSR 3 is on the rise with the games that support it, and it’s going to keep growing because FSR 3 works on almost everything, right? But there are limits to the quality we can get from FSR. It’s true that when you use machine learning, you can get better quality from upscaling, but you need a ton of...
"Machine learning, and it's possible that in the future we can optimize it for consumer demand. Let's say it won't require as much training with machine learning, right? But right now, as it's set up, it needs a lot. Honestly, RNA for the cards is the only option we offer that has the power for FSR 4, as it's currently written. Okay, okay, our strategy is to implement FSR on a ton of devices."
"The same strategy with FSR 4 as with FSR 3, but there are hard limitations, and that’s the problem. It's possible we can optimize it to work with RDNA A3, and we want to do that, but we have a lot of work right now. Okay, perfect. So to summarize, we have better performance for ray tracing, and we can say we’ll have upscaling and interpolation with machine learning in these new cards. Much better, way better. Seriously, a lot better. Oh wow, we’ll have an event soon."
Fran was telling us at the beginning about this show, and I guess now everything's running benchmarks and all that. Okay, I'll let you off the hook about it, and we'll wait for the event. They also announced new processors, and one of the slides said it was the best processor for gaming and content creation. I got confused and said, "But didn’t we have the 9800 X3D as the best gaming processor? Is the new 9950 X3D better than that?"
"Is the 9800 X3D worth it for gaming or not? Honestly, not really. The difference is the 98 X3D has eight cores, but not many games use more than four cores. So, the difference in gaming performance is minimal—maybe a few titles see a slight boost, let's say two or three frames. But for most people, it'll be pretty similar. If you're just gaming and want the best, go for the 9800 X3D. If you game and also create content, then the 99 is the way to go. If you're gaming and streaming a lot, especially multi-streaming, that’s where you'll see more of a benefit."
So you can focus on different things. If it's just about gaming, then just save your money and get the 9800. But if you're planning to do more, like streaming, the 99 and 99 50 are amazing. Okay, moving on to the last topic, Frank, so I don't take up too much of your time. I'm really excited about the Zen2; it's one of my favorite AMD products. I meant to say Z2, not C2. This processor comes in three versions: Z2 Go, Z2, and Z2 Extreme. We're going to have some new devices, and I saw the new Lenovo Legion.
"Hey, can you tell me about this new processor and these new products? So, we have the Z1 Extreme, which is basically our top-of-the-line model. That's where we're starting in terms of performance and graphics power. Then, we move up to the Extreme, which has incredible power. If you check out the Lenovo devices, like the Legion Go, it has a huge screen that’s really comfortable to use. They managed to reduce the weight, or at least make it lighter, because it feels very portable."
"It's comfortable to use. I was using it for a good while yesterday and I'm using it now too. What they did with the Lenovo is like a game changer. You can use Steam on that device. Oh, that's great! Before, you could only use the Steam Deck, and if you didn't like the controls, the weight, the screen, or the performance—since they used a slightly less powerful processor—you had no other options. Now, with the Lenovo Legion, you have way more power and a bigger screen. I love the display on that device; I've been testing it out."
"When is the Steam Deck 2 coming out? I tried to find out yesterday, but I heard some rumors that it might come with the Z2 Extreme. I can't confirm that, though. I'm trying to get that info, but anyway, Frank, thanks again for your transparency in letting me know what happened with the 9070 AMD. He’s going to take a look and make decisions calmly. Seriously, I appreciate it because that’s what people need—brands to be straightforward."
"Let's have transparency that tells us the truth and lays things out as they are to avoid rumors and misinformation. I'm really pleased and looking forward to these cards you mentioned are coming soon. I really liked what Fran said about much better performance in r Racing—much better scaling and interpolation. So, let's wait for them because they’ll be with us soon. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot! Have a lovely day, and keep up with the interviews and everything else you have going on. Thanks!"
"Thanks, we’re good, guys. Thanks, Sal!"
So you made the effort to do it in Spanish, right? You said you're from Cuba, but your family migrated to the United States, is that right? My parents came, and my grandparents did too, back in '59 from Cuba to Miami. I grew up in a house where we spoke Spanish, but living in the U.S., you go to school and everything, and you totally forget it. You take Spanish classes, but it's a bit different, you know? And you're speaking English most of the time. So, my dad... oh, he's not around anymore.
"Honestly, I’ve been practicing less and less. I think the last time I had a conversation in Spanish was with you last year. Fran told me he doesn’t have anyone to talk to in Spanish, so we really appreciate your effort. Of course, I can’t really have a full conversation in Spanish. Yeah, I get it, speaking in English is good practice. But anyway, Frank, there are a few topics we’re going to cover today, and I don't think I can start the interview without asking you what it was..."
What happened with the announcement? We were expecting the new AMD graphics cards, the 9070 and 9070 XT. The presentation came, and we were like, "What happened to the cards? Where are they?" Fran, I wish we could start with that topic. Are they here? Well, yeah, they’re here. Let’s do it. Everything’s on schedule. Okay, cool. We’re really happy with how the card is performing. Everything’s good, no issues or delays or anything like that. I can tell you that easily.
"That the computing team was going to announce their cards, and it’s better to wait and see how they respond to what they’re going to do, okay? They’re the dominant players, right? So why not just watch what they’re going to do, wait, and react to that? It’s good for everyone because it creates more competition. And who benefits from competition? So it’s a smart move for that reason. And the second reason, to be honest, we only had 45 minutes to handle everything with the press. Yeah, they don’t give you more time."
"We had limited time because the schedule was really tight, so people had to move quickly to the next thing. If you saw everything we announced at the press conference, we couldn’t fit it all in because we ran out of time, so we had to cut a few things. We were looking at all the content for the graphics and kept trimming it down. Honestly, we were just trying to keep it manageable."
"We're usually announcing things here like we did for the RDNA 2 and RDNA 3 events. We had dedicated events to explain the architecture and the reasons behind it, along with the performance advancements in FSR, all in about 5 minutes. But that's just not feasible. If we tried to rush it, everyone would be upset with us for not giving graphics the attention they deserve. So, we've decided to hold off a bit and keep this for a separate announcement about graphics. Stay tuned, we'll have an announcement soon!"
So, basically, you're telling me that AMD isn't ready to share a release date or price yet, right? They're still figuring those things out. I mean, we have some ideas, and I know what’s going on, but come on, you’re not great at lying. Seriously, you’re not. It's really interesting information though. Look, decisions have been made, and we know what we want to do, but we just need things to happen and for the products to come out as planned.
"We're going to bring a really compelling product, let's say a very competitive one, and everyone is going to benefit from it. I find what Frank said really interesting. As you can see, AMD just waited to make their next move. And as Frank said, in the end, it's us, the consumers, who win. This was just a little gossip, as we say, about what happened, since people online are speculating a lot about what this was, what that was, whether someone got sick, and so on."
"There are thousands of things here. Let’s see if we can check them out when I get a chance to say hi. Look, what I’m saying is this is complicated. It’s not easy, and yeah, it hurts that so many people were expecting the news, and how can we say it? We didn’t give it to them, you know? I get it because there are a lot of people who are, let’s say, really disappointed about that. I totally understand how they feel. But what I’m telling you is it’s going to be worth the wait. We’re talking about the cards."
What can you tell me about them? We can talk about their performance and capabilities. We've got two flavors: the 9070 and the 9070 XT. And it’s a bit of an awkward question, but why doesn’t AMD push for more? Does it have to do with competition? For sure. Look, I’ll tell you, in two generations, we did that. We started making cards with 000, and when you want to create a whole stack, you need three or four chips. That takes a lot of resources, not just people but money too.
The thing is, the mid to low-end chips cost more because of the money and resources you invested at the higher levels, and everyone has to cover that. So, the competition has made progress and has features that people want. When folks are willing to spend over a thousand bucks on a graphics card, most of them want everything out there and the best brand available.
"That's not okay, that's not our advantage. With the RNA A3, we had a card like the 7800 and the 7900 GR, and when we set a really good, aggressive price and performance level, the market responded really well for us. We learned that in an economy where prices just keep rising, it can get a bit expensive, you know? And it's going up too because when we raise our prices, the others do too."
"When are we going to stop? Gamers are buying graphics cards for less than $000, and the mid-range options are not cutting it. A lot of times, gamers and people get frustrated with the prices of different things, and a lot of that is because we're stuck in this situation. So, can you tell me if AMD still wants to be a company that provides good quality at a fair price? I mean, a company that gives me a solid product without breaking the bank."
We're still sticking to that philosophy at AMD. When we announced the Radeon 400 series, we said we’d be launching a card that's going to be powerful and robust. It’s not going to be just a basic card, but it’s also not going to be top-of-the-line. Just a little hint: it’ll range from 300 to 1000. Sounds interesting, right? We're aiming to deliver something that most people will see and think, "This is a great product at a good price with a lot of power." We believe they’re really going to love it.
"I really like it, and it's going to be much more around the cards I mentioned, like the 78T, in terms of power and price. When you look at the benchmarks, you see, 'Hey, that's a good value for the price-to-performance ratio,' which we call price-to-performance. It's really good. That's going to be the strategy for the RNA 4 instead of what we're doing now. Honestly, I'm just trying to... you know, yeah, strategy. Okay, perfect. Now we have some news: we have the FCR 4 for these video cards, right? What can we do?"
"Looking forward to this new feature, and it’ll be available on the previous 7000 and 6000 series cards. They gave me a bit of a heads-up about it. Okay, so this is one of those things you can’t really explain in just five minutes at a press conference. But yeah, we’ll go into it more when we officially announce the card. We decided to make some changes, and we did a few things with the architecture that we’ll elaborate on. First off, we improved performance, especially with ray tracing. A lot."
"Way more than the usual generation after generation. Why? Because now we finally have a library, a selection of games with ray tracing. There are a lot of games—let's say a huge library. Exactly, before there were like 10 games, maybe 25 or 50 games, but honestly, most people weren’t playing those games; they were just there to show off the PCs, you know? But now, even games are coming out with ray tracing as the standard feature."
So, now's the time when that really matters, especially for hardcore gamers. The right moment to jump in is now. The second thing is that FSR isn’t stopping; FSR 3 is on the rise with the games that support it, and it’s going to keep growing because FSR 3 works on almost everything, right? But there are limits to the quality we can get from FSR. It’s true that when you use machine learning, you can get better quality from upscaling, but you need a ton of...
"Machine learning, and it's possible that in the future we can optimize it for consumer demand. Let's say it won't require as much training with machine learning, right? But right now, as it's set up, it needs a lot. Honestly, RNA for the cards is the only option we offer that has the power for FSR 4, as it's currently written. Okay, okay, our strategy is to implement FSR on a ton of devices."
"The same strategy with FSR 4 as with FSR 3, but there are hard limitations, and that’s the problem. It's possible we can optimize it to work with RDNA A3, and we want to do that, but we have a lot of work right now. Okay, perfect. So to summarize, we have better performance for ray tracing, and we can say we’ll have upscaling and interpolation with machine learning in these new cards. Much better, way better. Seriously, a lot better. Oh wow, we’ll have an event soon."
Fran was telling us at the beginning about this show, and I guess now everything's running benchmarks and all that. Okay, I'll let you off the hook about it, and we'll wait for the event. They also announced new processors, and one of the slides said it was the best processor for gaming and content creation. I got confused and said, "But didn’t we have the 9800 X3D as the best gaming processor? Is the new 9950 X3D better than that?"
"Is the 9800 X3D worth it for gaming or not? Honestly, not really. The difference is the 98 X3D has eight cores, but not many games use more than four cores. So, the difference in gaming performance is minimal—maybe a few titles see a slight boost, let's say two or three frames. But for most people, it'll be pretty similar. If you're just gaming and want the best, go for the 9800 X3D. If you game and also create content, then the 99 is the way to go. If you're gaming and streaming a lot, especially multi-streaming, that’s where you'll see more of a benefit."
So you can focus on different things. If it's just about gaming, then just save your money and get the 9800. But if you're planning to do more, like streaming, the 99 and 99 50 are amazing. Okay, moving on to the last topic, Frank, so I don't take up too much of your time. I'm really excited about the Zen2; it's one of my favorite AMD products. I meant to say Z2, not C2. This processor comes in three versions: Z2 Go, Z2, and Z2 Extreme. We're going to have some new devices, and I saw the new Lenovo Legion.
"Hey, can you tell me about this new processor and these new products? So, we have the Z1 Extreme, which is basically our top-of-the-line model. That's where we're starting in terms of performance and graphics power. Then, we move up to the Extreme, which has incredible power. If you check out the Lenovo devices, like the Legion Go, it has a huge screen that’s really comfortable to use. They managed to reduce the weight, or at least make it lighter, because it feels very portable."
"It's comfortable to use. I was using it for a good while yesterday and I'm using it now too. What they did with the Lenovo is like a game changer. You can use Steam on that device. Oh, that's great! Before, you could only use the Steam Deck, and if you didn't like the controls, the weight, the screen, or the performance—since they used a slightly less powerful processor—you had no other options. Now, with the Lenovo Legion, you have way more power and a bigger screen. I love the display on that device; I've been testing it out."
"When is the Steam Deck 2 coming out? I tried to find out yesterday, but I heard some rumors that it might come with the Z2 Extreme. I can't confirm that, though. I'm trying to get that info, but anyway, Frank, thanks again for your transparency in letting me know what happened with the 9070 AMD. He’s going to take a look and make decisions calmly. Seriously, I appreciate it because that’s what people need—brands to be straightforward."
"Let's have transparency that tells us the truth and lays things out as they are to avoid rumors and misinformation. I'm really pleased and looking forward to these cards you mentioned are coming soon. I really liked what Fran said about much better performance in r Racing—much better scaling and interpolation. So, let's wait for them because they’ll be with us soon. I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot! Have a lovely day, and keep up with the interviews and everything else you have going on. Thanks!"
"Thanks, we’re good, guys. Thanks, Sal!"
