It feels a bit like we're in the long wait before the hardware world returns to normal, doesn't it? Thanks to the global memory shortage, when memory-clad products launch at all they're slapped with dizzying price tags. Given this, hearing that we're only going to see one next-gen GPU next year feels about right. And apparently it won't be a top-end one, either.
That is what we are hearing from prolific and usually very in-the-know hardware leaker Kepler_L2, no less (via VideoCardz). On Anandtech forums they say: "AT2 is the only GPU getting released next year. Everything else from both AMD and Nvidia is 2028."
AT2, if you were wondering, is supposedly the codename for the GPU that is going to be found in Xbox Project Helix, which has been pegged for a 2027 launch for some time. That we'll see at least one new AMD GPU next year, then, isn't news. But what is new is confirmation—assuming Kepler is right—that this GPU is the only new one we'll see next year, especially given it's expected to not be the most powerful of AMD's next-gen line-up.
There's no official word from AMD on this, but rumours have had it for a long while that there'll be an AT0 ('Alpha Triton 0') GPU with 96 compute units (CUs) that will compete with Nvidia's RTX 6080-level GPU. If Kepler's recent statement is true, therefore, it seems AMD will be launching its midrange GPU first, courtesy of console launches.
It would also mean we shouldn't expect any new Nvidia GPUs. Though it's worth noting that at least one hardware leaker—Moore's Law is Dead—disagrees with this and claims we could see an RTX 6090 launch. Kepler disagrees, saying "he's wrong."
Kepler's wording does, however, leave it somewhat ambiguous as to whether Nvidia could release Super versions of current GPUs, given these wouldn't be "new" GPUs but new configurations of the same GPUs. But those have reportedly been cancelled anyway. It's been looking less likely Supers would launch ever since the memory crisis kicked up, given previous rumours had it that RTX 50 Super cards would primarily offer better memory configs.
Nvidia has RTX Spark now, anyway, I suppose. And for my money, given the state of the current PC hardware market, I'm not counting just one new GPU next year as that much of a loss. Roll on 2028, though.
1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070
2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB
3. Best budget: Nvidia RTX 5050
4. Best mid-range: AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090
