AMD’s next generation GPU architecture, Navi, has interestingly been spotted in the latest Linux drivers. That said, it should be noted that the aforementioned drivers do not contain the word “Navi” specifically, but there are certain hints which show that this is indeed a new GPU from Radeon and AMD. The latest Linux drivers contains the following line of code:
“new_chip.gfx10.mmSUPER_SECRET.enable [0: 0]”
Based on the code above, it can clearly be seen that the GPU is categorised as “gfx10.” For those who may not be aware, Radeon’s Vega GPU was called “gfx9.” In addition, there’s also the “new_chip” excerpt, which is… pretty self explanatory, really. Another rather interesting addition to the code is the “Super_Secret” excerpt – normally the GPU architecture name would appear after “gfx.”
Folks at VideoCardz have mentioned that AMD may have done this on purpose to avoid creating hype for a GPU architecture that has no clear release date. Despite this, the tech site did say that Navi GPUs may possibly be launched around late 2018, but take this one with a grain of salt for now. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see what new features and improvements Navi GPUs will bring. We’ll probably hear more about this in the weeks prior to the actual launch.
(Source: ComputerBase, VideoCardz)
