Radeon RX 9080 XT

Radeon RX 9080 XT — is an upcoming graphics card from AMD based on the RDNA 4 architecture, focused on high-end performance and designed to compete with the GeForce RTX 5080. Although there has been no official release as of May 2025, technical leaks and engineering reports are already forming a fairly clear picture of the configuration, tasks and capabilities of this GPU.

The RX 9080 XT will be positioned as a pre-flagship, closing the gap between the RX 9070 XT and the top-end RX 9090 XT. Its main goal is to offer high performance in 4K games with moderate power consumption and a balanced resource-to-price ratio.

Architecture

The RX 9000 series cards are based on the architecture RDNA4, which retains the core principles of RDNA 3, but is redesigned with a focus on:

• improved efficiency in ray tracing,

• Acceleration of AI computing,

• expansion of parallelism,

• increasing computing density with a fixed crystal area.

RDNA 4 Features in RX 9080 XT:

1. Navi 48 XTX or Navi 48 H chip, with configuration 112 computing units (CU), which corresponds 7168 stream processors. This is a noticeable increase relative to the 9070 XT (4096 SP) and closer to the old parameters RX 7900 XTX, but in a new implementation.

2. 64 or 96 AI cores, working in tandem with shader graphics and FSR 4 technology. The interaction between the AI ​​module and the geometric frontend has been improved, which speeds up the dynamic generation of details in scenes with fast movement or complex animation.

3. Upgraded third-generation RT accelerators, which not only work faster, but also have improved compatibility with Vulkan RT and DXR. Implemented hardware acceleration of hybrid tracing (through transparent objects, with calculation of refraction and soft shading).

4. PCIe 5.0 x16 interface with full throughput and high stability when working with multi-threaded geometry.

5. Infinity Cache 96 MB, built into L3 and supplemented by a second-level cache, to reduce dependence on external memory and reduce latency when working with heavy textures in 4K.

6. Focus on energy efficiency: AMD is not betting on a power race, but on a more even block loading and reduced noise/heating with the same computing density.

Preliminary characteristics

Performance (expected)

The RX 9080 XT is designed to operate stably at resolutions 4K with high graphics load. With FSR 4.1 the card should provide:

• 80-100 FPS in heavy projects like Alan Wake I, Cyberpunk 2077, Starfield on ultra settings;

• up to 120-150 FPS at 1440p without scaling in classic AAA titles;

• minimal FPS drop when ray tracing in realistic scenes due to improved RT blocks and interaction with Infinity Cache.

On AI operations (rendering, frame generation, scaling) the card will be noticeably inferior to the RTX 5080 with Tensor cores, but in pure rendering and traditional rasterization it is capable of imposing competition within ±10%.

Strengths

• Improved energy efficiency compared to RX 7900 XTX

• 384-bit bus and 24GB VRAM are a great balance for 4K without going overboard

• Really reworked RT blocks (not cosmetic improvement)

• Full support for FSR 4 and new interfaces (DisplayPort 2.1, AV1)

Disadvantages and limitations

• GDDR6 instead of GDDR7 may be a bottleneck in the future

• AI performance still weaker than NVIDIA's Blackwell cards

• Raytracing implementation, despite improvements, falls short of the RTX 5080 in the most complex RT scenes

• The cooling question is open: leaks indicate 320-340 W, but it is not yet clear how effectively the coolers cope

The Radeon RX 9080 XT is a powerful and potentially competitive solution from AMD in the high-end segment. The card does not try to beat the RTX 5080 in everything, but offers an alternative with an emphasis on power efficiency, a wide memory bus, and a predictable architecture. If the leaks are true, the RX 9080 XT will occupy a logical niche: a powerful GPU for 4K gaming, without the ultra-premium price tag, but with some architectural compromises.