The GPUOpen Drivers reveal that AMD is indeed skipping the RDNA 4 architecture for its next-gen APUs, adopting the already released RDNA 3.5.
Code Reveals RDNA 4 Architecture is Reserved Only for Discrete GPUs, Confirming RDNA 3.5 Usage on Zen 6 APUs
It seems that the rumors about AMD not using the RDNA 4 architecture in the upcoming APU series are true. Roughly two weeks ago, we reported that the Medusa Point, which is the upcoming mobile APU series based on Zen 6 architecture, probably won't feature iGPUs based on RDNA 4 architecture. The latest leak confirms that the rumor is indeed true.
It was revealed from the AMD GPUOpen Drivers code on GitHub that the Device ID "GfxIp12" for RDNA 4 is exclusively reserved for discrete GPUs. This means the latest AMD GPUs, aka RX 9000 series, will be the only family you will see RDNA 4 architecture active on. The previous RDNA architectures, including the RDNA 2, RDNA 3, and RDNA 3.5 are the only ones that were revealed for the CPUs/APUs and AMD will continue with RDNA 3.5 for the next-gen APU lineups.
The Medusa Point is the successor to the Strix Point/Krackan Point family, featuring the more powerful Zen 6 architecture, but unfortunately, won't utilize the more powerful RDNA 4 architecture for the integrated graphics. That's probably because AMD has achieved its goal with RDNA 3.5 through Zen 5 mobile lineups, including the Strix Halo, which offers the leading iGPU performance on mobile platforms.
It's likely that AMD will skip straight to UDNA to offer a bigger generational leap compared to RDNA 3.5 on APUs. AMD UDNA (Unified DNA) was announced last year and is a massive upgrade over RDNA to compete with NVIDIA's CUDA ecosystem. However, we still have at least a generation left to reach the UDNA architecture, and it's expected to be a Strix Halo successor that will be the first to deploy the UDNA architecture.
Still, skipping the RDNA 4 architecture on Zen 6 Medusa Point APUs will restrict users from utilizing the FSR 4 (FidelityFX Super Resolution 4) as it is exclusive to the RDNA 4 architecture, at least for now. We don't have much info about AMD Zen 6 architecture, and it's still too early to talk about it. Medusa Point is expected to launch next year and is also going to be aimed at high-performance mobile computing, just like Strix Halo.
News Source: @Kepler_L2
