AMD's RDNA 3 series is rumored to launch sooner than expected

The race is on to see which of the three GPU makers will launch its cards first. The smart bet would be in Intel, though for now, all indications are that its cards won't be competitive from a performance point of view. It's a different story for AMD and Nvidia: both companies are readying their next gen challengers, but which company will launch first and take the gaming crown?

Depending on which company launches first, it's no leap to say that either company's flagship card will comfortably take out the top spot, but for how long can it keep it?  A new rumor from the reliable leaker Greymon55 indicates that the launch of AMD's flagship Navi 31 GPU could take place as soon as October.

That means that AMD is set to release its Zen 4 CPU family and RDNA 3 cards within weeks of one another. I'd assume that Nvidia will look to one-up AMD and launch its RTX 40 cards before then. Bragging rights matter.

Intel's Arc cards are still coming (in one form or another), and it’s also set to launch its 13th Gen Raptor lake CPUs towards the end of the year. If you're looking to build a new gaming PC later this year, you'll have a smorgasbord of new hardware to choose from.

The rumor mill is really starting to churn. It’s important not to get too carried away with leaks, but when AMD itself comes out and says it expects a whopping 50% performance per watt increase, I have to sit up and take notice. If we assume a hypothetical RX 7900 XT and RX 6900 XT both have a TDP of 300W, the 7900 XT should be around 50% faster. However, I’d expect the 7900 XT's TDP to be higher than 300W, meaning the RDNA 3 flagship will offer a stunning intergenerational performance leap.

Of course, Nvidia isn’t sitting on its hands. Rumours suggest similar, if not even greater performance gains from its next generation flagship. It’s an exciting time to be a gamer, though expectations need to be tempered. There are many unknowns. Price, availability and cooling requirements will have a major influence on the state of the market. I hope that these launches will be real! No paper launches please.

I for one can’t wait to see AMD and Nvidia battle it out for next generation gaming supremacy. If a launch as soon as October turns out to be accurate, we won't have too long to wait to see which company takes out the gaming crown.