AMD reveals CDNA, a Compute-focused GPU architecture that’s separate from RDNA

AMD has gone through some fundamental changes over the past five years, with their RDNA and Zen architectures having a transformative effect on their respective product stacks. Today, AMD is a profitable company, something which many considered impossible back in 2015.

Now, AMD has announced a new graphics architecture. No, this isn’t RDNA 2, this is something new. Meet CDNA, AMD’s Compute-focused architecture which will focus on the Machine Learning and datacenter markets.

AMD has also revealed RDNA 2 and RDNA 3, with RDNA 3 coming through an unknown “advanced node”, confirming that Radeon will continue to have a gaming focus. Now, AMD has the funding to invest in both the gaming and professional computing markets, allowing them to cater their products to better support each market.

This is a major change for AMD, who with GCN attempted to create a product that would meet the needs of these two markets. This effort didn’t work out for AMD, showcasing how important this new approach will be for Radeon moving forward.

Nvidia already works this way, and Intel’s roadmap already shows a split between the gaming markets and high-performance computing markets, again highlighting the importance of this move for AMD.

How much will CDNA (Compute DNA) differ from RDNA (Radeon DNA)? Who knows? A lot of AMD’s R&D efforts will benefit both architectures, but AMD’s split focus will allow AMD to design products that will best meet the needs of their clients, be it for gaming PCs or supercomputers.

AMD’s strong compute graphics roadmap has already gotten the company several design wins within the supercomputing market, including the US’s 2 Exaflop El Capitan Supercomputer, which will become the world’s fastest supercomputer when it is delivered in 2023.

At this time AMD hasn’t released much detailed information about CDNA, but it will sit at the core of AMD’s future Radeon Instinct lineup. We expect AMD to announce new CDNA products soon.

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