All you need to know about AMD's 'missing' 7800 XT and 7700 XT GPUs

pcgamer.com:

AMD rolled out its Radeon RX 7900 XT and XTX GPUs last year. Then came the RX 7600 in May. But here we are towards the end of June and there's no word on AMD filling out its RDNA 3 range with the 7800 XT and 7700 XT, plus presumably non-XT versions. So, what exactly is going on?

The first thing to note is that the RX 7800 and 7700 cards aren't actually all that late. The RX 6700 XT launched in March 2021, so the typical expectation would have been for a 7700 XT in March this year. At worst, then, the 7700 XT is arguably a few months late.

As for the 7800 XT, that's a bit more complicated. AMD changed up its branding with the 7900 XT and 7900 XTX. When RDNA 2 was launched at the end of 2020, the 6900 XT was the top card, with the 6800 XT directly below it and based on the the same Navi 21 GPU.

So, you could argue the 7800 XT is already here, it's just called the 7900 XT. But then, of course, we're still missing a replacement for the plain non-XT RX 6800. And the aforementioned 6700 XT and 6700 non-XT.

However you slice it, then, there's a big, fat hole in the middle of the RDNA 3 lineup. Enter the latest round of rumours. One major discussion point involves so-called 'leaks' claiming that the 7800 XT will actually be based on the same Navi 31 GPU as the existing 7900 XT and XTX.

That certainly makes sense and would not actually be a surprise. Whether a mooted 7800 XT is a replacement for the last-gen 6800 XT or the non-XT 6800, being based on the biggest available GPU would be in line with AMD's previous approach.

As it happens, AMD already has just such a reworking of Navi 31 available in the Radeon Pro W7800. That's a professional GPU, not a gaming card. But it uses a cut-down Navi 31 GPU with 70 CUs and 4,480 shaders.