AMD's product naming schemes have been all over the place for a while now, but you have to give the red team some credit for this one. After all, the previous-generation discrete GPUs based on the RDNA 3 architecture were the Radeon RX 7000 series, and then the RDNA 3.5 GPU on Ryzen AI MAX is apparently the Ryzen 8000 series. Given that, it follows that the next-gen RDNA discrete GPUs would be the 9000 series.

Also included in the leak were the Radeon RX 8000S Graphics models, which are likely Ryzen AI MAX chips, and then two more Radeon RX 7000 SKUs, the RX 7750 and RX 7650. Whether these are simple rebadges or something more remains to be seen, but we're intrigued by the idea of a price-cut Radeon RX 7700 XT, as that GPU already presents outstanding value after price cuts this year.

The leaker also presented some rough performance comparisons and a few key specifications as well as expected price ranges for the new parts. According to All The Watts!!, the Radeon RX 9070 XT, which will likely be the top-end product in the new generation, offers performance somewhere between the Radeon RX 7900 XT and Radeon RX 7900 GRE. A "non-XT" version of the same GPU will apparently be just a touch slower, around the RX 7800 XT in performance.

That doesn't sound great, but it all comes down to pricing, of course. The leaker says that GPUs based on the larger Navi 48 will run anywhere from $449 on up to $649, while GPUs based on the smaller Navi 44 will apparently start at $179 and run up to $349. Depending on the feature upgrades -- like a new AI-based FSR (perhaps a result of 'Amethyst'?) -- that could make these GPUs an excellent value proposition.

The big question mark is of course ray-tracing performance. AMD has supposedly made huge strides with its ray-tracing performance in the latest generation (although RDNA 3 isn't nearly as incapable as some users might say). Many users will cite concerns over ray-tracing capability as a reason for avoiding AMD's previous-generation discrete GPU parts; will an upgrade in that area convince wary PC gamers? We'll find out early next year.