AMD is starting to prepare open source graphics stacks for memory types not yet used by Radeons currently on the market. In fact, it appears in the source code of the AMDGPU driver for Linux Explicit reference to GDDR7added along with already supported standards.
This change was very limited but was combined with other interventions specifically targeting new hardware components. The elements appearing in the source do not directly identify a specific GPU, but indicate that AMD is preparing software support for next-generation graphics modules and controllers.
AMDGPU driver introduces GDDR7 and new hardware modules
The most obvious change involves the amdgpu_vram_names list, a driver structure that associates memory codes with their names. AMD engineer Frank Min once Added “GDDR7” entry Together with GDDR6, HBM3E and HBM4. This patch was reviewed by Hawking Zhang and submitted by Alex Deucher, AMDGPU Maintenance Manager.
The appearance of the GDDR7 entry obviously does not mean that current Radeons are already using this type of memory. The Radeon RX 9000, which is based on the RDNA 4 architecture, actually uses GDDR6, while NVIDIA has already adopted GDDR7 on the desktop GeForce RTX 50.
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is now the most popular Radeon GPU on Steam, but NVIDIA is still far away
During the same period, interventions related to new graphic building blocks also emerged. AMD is working on supporting IH 8.0 (a new version of the interrupt handler) and NBIF 7.10 (an updated version of the new bus interface). These are internal components of the platform and must be correctly recognized by the operating system.
Display Core Next, the subsystem dedicated to managing screens, is also receiving updates. References to DCN 6 have appeared in recent driver works, while other changes affect newer generations of GFX hardware. Part of this work has already flowed into Linux 7.3 drivers, with plans to further intervene in Linux 7.4 development.
However, the connection to future Radeon remains indirect. AMD has not indicated that the GDDR7 patch is architecture-specific, nor has it officially communicated the memory characteristics of its next-generation GPUs. There are multiple rumors linking RDNA 5 to GDDR7, but this is currently unconfirmed.
So the changes are still there An indication of what AMD is doing behind the scenesnot just an official preview of the next generation of Radeons. However, open source drivers allow us to observe some components that manufacturers have in store, and the next version of AMDGPU could provide more details about the upcoming hardware.
