AMD patents hint at significant ray tracing improvements in future GPU architectures

[ad_1] In context: Earlier generations of AMD graphics playing cards have lagged behind Nvidia's in ray tracing efficiency, however Crew Pink's most up-to-date Radeon RX 9000 GPUs have made vital strides in closing the hole. Quite a few latest patents counsel the corporate is simply simply getting began, with future {hardware} probably making ray tracing and path tracing extra accessible.

Reddit person MrMPFR's evaluation of AMD patents from the previous 12 months and a half reveals that the corporate is severe about treating ray tracing as the way forward for real-time graphics rendering. Whereas Nvidia has pushed a lot of the know-how's progress over the past a number of years, Crew Pink would possibly lastly be closing the hole – and even perhaps pulling forward.

In its push to enhance ray tracing efficiency throughout a wider vary of {hardware}, AMD has filed quite a few patents since round January 2023. Over an extended interval, it has additionally employed ray tracing consultants from Nvidia, Intel, and academia. An in depth breakdown of AMD's patents signifies the corporate is aiming for parity with the RT and neural rendering options Nvidia launched in its just lately launched RTX 5000 graphics playing cards.

AMD could have integrated a few of this newly developed know-how into the RDNA 4 structure used within the Radeon RX 9000 collection, which practically matches the RTX 5000 in ray tracing efficiency. For instance, TechSpot's evaluation exhibits that the RX 9070 XT matches or outperforms the RTX 5070 Ti in most titles.

Nevertheless, AMD nonetheless struggles with essentially the most demanding RT tech in a couple of video games, reminiscent of Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle, Alan Wake II, and Black Fable Wukong.

If a ray tracing arms race is brewing between AMD and Nvidia, making superior ray tracing and path tracing options accessible at playable body charges for common customers is probably going a key objective.

Additionally see: Is Ray Tracing Well worth the FPS Hit? 36 Sport Efficiency Investigation

Our ray tracing breakdown from final 12 months signifies that Alan Wake II and Wukong are among the many few video games the place ray tracing considerably improves visuals, although totally benefiting from these enhancements nonetheless requires spending at the least a thousand {dollars} on a GPU.

AMD's latest work on BVH (bounding quantity hierarchy) administration, ray traversal, and different options might considerably decrease the {hardware} entry barrier with UDNA, the upcoming successor to RDNA 4. Creating equivalents to Nvidia's applied sciences – together with the huge polygon rely boosts from RTX Mega Geometry – might additionally make these options extra engaging to builders.

UDNA is predicted to energy the subsequent era of AMD graphics playing cards, and the graphics chip for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 6 reportedly makes use of an early model of the structure. In the meantime, Nvidia is predicted to launch its Rubin structure in direct competitors, although particulars about its function set stay scarce.