AMD's ROCm stands as an open-source software platform tailored for accelerated computing, boasting high flexibility and performance. It caters to the machine learning and high-performance computing communities, offering an environment unconstrained by programming languages. Participants in these fields can leverage various open-source computing languages, compilers, libraries, and redesigned tools to expedite code development, making it well-suited for large-scale computations and multi-GPU support. Over the past few months, AMD has accelerated the frequency of updates to the ROCm software stack, bringing enhanced support and extensive optimization changes, particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) computing capabilities.
Recently, netizens discovered that AMD has introduced the first batch of patches for the next generation of GPUs, including build targets and initial configuration files. These have now entered the ROCm validation suite, revealing that the first GPU based on the RDNA 4 architecture is codenamed "NV48," a shorthand for Navi 48. Unfortunately, no specifications have been provided yet. This isn't the first time information about new GPUs has been uncovered through ROCm, as similar occurrences were noted for the RDNA 3 architecture with Navi 31/32/33.
It is understood that the RDNA 4 architecture will mark AMD's first consumer-level product to support the PCIe 5.0 interface, with the possibility of the memory supporting GDDR7. There have been rumors suggesting that AMD's Navi 4x series GPUs based on the RDNA 4 architecture will not feature high-end models, meaning there won't be Radeon RX 8000 series cards equivalent to those with Navi 21/31-level specifications. Instead, they are more akin to previous RDNA or Polaris architectures.
Rumors suggest that the RDNA 4 architecture GPUs will consist of only two chips, with Navi 48 featuring 32 WGP (Workgroup Processors), while the lower-spec Navi 44 will have 20 WGP.
