Is Radeon RX 9070 XT the new RDNA 4 GPU? New naming scheme and other possibilities explored

AMD fans who have been patiently waiting for the RDNA 4 GPUs are in for a surprise. As per a new leak, AMD may have decided to skip the Radeon RX 8000 branding for the 9000 series with an Nvidia-style branding. This is honestly a surprise, especially considering previous leaks that suggested the Radeon RX 8800 XT branding.

In this article, we will analyze the new RDNA 4 GPU naming scheme leak and explain what it means. We will also explore how it compares to Nvidia's branding.

Note: Some aspects of this article are subjective and solely reflect the writer's opinions. Take the leaked data with a grain of salt.

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Radeon RX 9070 XT: Possible change in naming scheme of RDNA 4 GPUs explained

ASRock Radeon RX 7700 XT (Image via ASRock)

The leak of the new naming scheme originally came from Chiphell forums and was spotted by an X user, HXL @9550pro. The post, in Mandarin, says the new Radeon GPU series branding will start with 9, followed by a zero instead of the number that indicates product class, like 7800 XT.

In this new naming style, it's the third digit that signifies product class, followed by another zero, just like Nvidia. Hence, the new naming scheme would be the Radeon RX 9000 series, including the Radeon RX 9070 XT and the regular Radeon RX 9070.

These will be the new RDNA 4 GPUs we have been hearing for a while. The question that most users will have is, why the new naming scheme? Well, it seems AMD has a good reason for that.

We've previously talked about a new AMD APU, which according to leaks, will have an integrated graphics chip as powerful as the PS5. The APU in question is the upcoming AMD Strix Halo chips, whose highest-end variant, Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, has an iGPU with 40 compute units. According to Benchleaks, this integrated graphics card will likely be called the Radeon RX 8060S.

Another possible cut-down variant of this chip will have an iGPU with 32 compute units, which might be called Radeon RX 8050S. Essentially, the 8000 series branding will be reserved for the integrated graphics cards, which is why AMD is skipping straight to the 9000 series for the dedicated RDNA 4 GPUs.

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How does the Radeon RX 9070 XT compare to Nvidia's upcoming RTX 50 series?

ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 4070 Super (Image via ASUS)

Naming the new graphics cards as the Radeon RX 9070 series or the Radeon RX 9060 series indicates that AMD may want a branding similar to Nvidia's. This could be a strategy to give better competition to Nvidia GPUs. AMD has previously done this with its motherboard chipsets by branding them as Intel's.

The X670, B650, and A620 from AMD branding are strikingly similar to Intel's Z690, B660, and H610. Therefore, it's understandable that AMD chose a branding akin to Nvidia's, but it was a bit out of the blue. As much as naming matters, the pricing matters even more.

AMD had a real opportunity to score big with the Radeon 7000 series, but the lack of good pricing and initial issues with those graphics cards left a bad taste in people's mouths. If the company seriously wants to compete with Nvidia this time, the pricing of the RDNA 4 GPUs must be highly competitive. Or else, we will see a repeat of 2022 once again.