Bad news for PS5 fans: Xbox Series X/S are the ONLY consoles to make the most of AMD RDNA 2 architecture


Following AMD's reveal of the Radeon RX 6000 series of GPUs, which include RDNA 2 tech, Xbox released a blog post detailing the power of RDNA 2 architecture on its next-gen ecosystem.

The RDNA 2 technology is used in both of the main next-gen consoles, as console gaming attempts to match or even beat specs often reserved for the most high-end of gaming PCs.

However, while the PlayStation 5 utilises RDNA 2 architecture, Xbox has announced that the Series X/S are "the only next-generation consoles with full hardware support for all the RDNA 2 capabilities."

Why has Xbox made such a bold statement? Here's all the company said...

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Xbox Series X RDNA 2 architecture benefits

Given the reluctance of modern day gaming companies to ridicule or humiliate their competition, Xbox did not specifically state why the PlayStation 5 was not as integrated with RDNA 2 architecture.

Instead, Xbox demonstrated the various new Xbox features that would take advantage of RDNA 2, including Mesh Shaders and DirectX Raytracing that "allows developers to deliver a new level of visual fidelity and immersion through techniques such as realistic lighting, shadows, reflections and acoustics."

Sampler Feedback will also utilise RDNA 2 to improve memory efficiency allowing for games to only load specific textures into the GPU that are needed for a scene "providing an effective 2.5x memory and bandwidth multiplier."

The one feature PlayStation has remained silent on, suggesting it may not be implemented, is VRS (Variable Rate Shading), which enables "nabling developers to focus their GPU resources on the areas of a frame that most benefit without reducing the overall image quality."

READ MORE: PS5 vs Xbox Series X SSD: Which is better?

What is RDNA 2 Architecture?

AMD's RDNA 2 architecture is AMD's latest graphics microarchitecture. Little was known about the specifics of RDNA 2 for a number of months after its name started appearing in various next-gen presentations. But it was fully revealed in a recent AMD event on October 28, alongside the Radeon RX 6000 series of graphics cards.

It follows on from the original RDNA architecture first revealed at E3 2019, albeit delivering 54% more performance per watt compared to the previous iteration.

The RDNA 2 architecture forms part of AMD's wider efforts to compete with NVIDIA's recently released GeForce RTX 3000 cards, which released earlier this year.

READ MORE: AMD Radeon 6000 Series revealed

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