AMD has stealthily launched its new laptop GPU, the Radeon RX 7800M, with impressive specifications that could rouse even the most discerning gamer – yet somehow managed to keep the news under wraps. The brand new product suddenly appeared on its website.
While the most exceptional gaming laptops are undeniably defined by their graphics processing unit (GPU) selection, the repercussions on power consumption, battery longevity, and thermal management become starkly apparent. With its release, AMD’s new chip seems poised to capture attention as a compelling option.
What’s at stake is the mid-range specifications of the brand-new graphics processing unit. While current AMD laptop computer GPUs have largely been variations of either the very potent RX 7900M, built upon the Navi 31 GPU die, or the less powerful RX 7700 and RX 7600 variants utilizing the Navi 33 die, the new RX 7800M occupies a sweet spot between these two.
While the Navi 31 chip supports up to 72 compute units (CUs), and the Navi 33 chip tops out at 32 CUs, the latest Navi 32 chip can accommodate 60 CUs. The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is poised to deliver significantly enhanced performance compared to the RX 7700M XT and RX 7600M, without compromising on portability like some RX 7900M laptops’ bulky designs.
According to latest leaks on the RX 7800M’s efficiency, it appears poised to surpass even the laptop-class Nvidia RTX 4070, a popular choice for mid-range notebooks like the Alienware M16 R2, which currently sits atop our best laptops ranking.
The entire graphics power consumption of the chip is 180 watts, comparable to the 180-200 watt range of the RX 7900M, indicating a GPU that demands considerable cooling resources. In comparison, the RX 7600M XT is pegged at a relatively modest 75-120 watts of total graphics power. Despite these limitations, one could envision laptop manufacturers finding ways to create devices that are even more portable, energy-efficient, and thermally managed using this innovative GPU.
The RX 7800M’s base clock speed is clocked at 2,145 MHz, a significant increase over the RX 7900M’s 2,090 MHz and the RX 7600M XT’s 2,456 MHz. The GPU is bolstered by an impressive 12GB of GDDR6 video random access memory (VRAM), a notable upgrade from the 8GB found in more entry-level GPUs, yet still trailing the 16GB offered by the RX 7900M.
While we’ll never truly grasp the true potential of this new GPU until it’s integrated into a finished laptop, only then can we accurately assess its ability to strike a balance between power and portability? Discover the latest on AMD’s cutting-edge graphics technology by reading our in-depth review of the Radeon RX 7900 GRE, a standout among its peers.
