AMD To Slowly Discontinue Support For Recent GCN Based Products

Expert Verified By

Time To Move On From Old Architecture!

Various widely used AMD cards based on GCN architecture might be looking at the end of their life cycle.

Users still using AMD cards based on Vega and Polaris should consider upgrading their hardware in the near future to continue receiving driver support for new games.

AMD Polaris GCN

According to an AMD spokesperson, the red team will soon be abandoning support for 4th and 5th-generation cards based on GCN architecture, which includes AMD Polaris and AMD Vega series graphics cards.

Because of their maturity, stability, and performance, the AMD Polaris and Vega graphics architectures don’t gain as much from routine software optimization. Moving forward, AMD will supply crucial security and feature updates, along with other updates, through a distinct driver package for products based on the Polaris and Vega architectures.

However, with Polaris and Vega-based cards, gamers can still enjoy their favorite games till AMD decides to move its GCN-based products to the retired list of ‘legacy’ graphics cards.

The GCN architecture was unveiled by AMD back in 2011, while the Radeon RX 400 series, also known as Polaris, was released in 2016. The Radeon RX 500 series and Vega-based graphics cards, on the other hand, were released later in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

The Radeon RX 400 series, or Polaris, was one of AMD’s most well-received products because of its price-to-performance ratio, which challenged the PC gaming industry with a $200 product, beating its competition in terms of value and performance.

Looking at the Steam hardware survey, about 14.79% of users are currently using AMD graphics cards in their system. The Radeon RX 580, which is also based on Polaris, is currently used by 0.74% of Steam users, making it the highest-ranking AMD card on Steam.

That being said, the Radeon RX 580 is still a capable graphics card and performs quite well for its price in recent well-optimized titles, like Resident Evil 4 Remake. Still, the old GCN architecture has slowly started showing its age compared to RDNA 1 or RDNA 2.

Was our article helpful? 👨‍💻

Thank you! Please share your positive feedback. 🔋

How could we improve this post? Please Help us. 😔

Join Our Community

Still having issues? Join the Tech4Gamers Forum for expert help and community support!

Latest News

Join Our Community

104,000FansLike
32,122FollowersFollow

Trending

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Nominated For Ultimate GOTY At Golden Joystick Awards

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been nominated in the Ultimate Game of The Year Category At Golden Joystick Awards.

Sega Says Multiplatform Release Key To Success For AAA Games

Sega has confirmed that multiplatform support played a huge role in the success of its franchises in recent years.

Black Myth: Wukong Nominated For Ultimate GOTY At Golden Joystick Awards

Black Myth: Wukong, a fan-favorite title, has been nominated for the Ultimate GOTY at the Golden Joystick Awards.

Remedy Says Max Payne Remakes Progressing Well In Production

Remedy has shared the first update on Max Payne after the two remakes entered production a few months ago in August.

Arkane Founder: Microsoft’s Studio Closure Hurts the Immersive Sim Genre

Arkane Founder discussed challenge of marketing immersive sims, using Prey as an example of how difficult it is to convey the genre’s appeal.