A new AMD GPU has just been launched – and no, it’s definitely not the one you’re thinking of
AMD’s new RX 8000 graphics cards are coming, with leaks suggesting we could see four shiny new GPUs before the year is out. But those aren’t the cards I’ll be talking about today, no sir: Taiwanese manufacturer Biostar has inexplicably just revealed a new model of the Radeon RX 580, which originally launched back in April 2017.
The RX 580 was (and, in all honesty, still is) an excellent choice for a budget-friendly 1080p gaming GPU. We gave it four stars in our review , noting that it – at the time – stole the budget gaming crown from Nvidia’s competing GeForce GTX 1060, a card that held the top spot on Steam’s most-used GPUs list for a long, long time.
But as much as I liked the RX 580, it is, at the end of the day, a seven-year-old GPU; six years old, if you want to be specific, since this model technically uses the slightly new 2048 core architecture version of the chip, which launched in 2018. So why launch a new model now?
Everything has its place
Biostar itself hasn’t publicly disclosed why it chose to revive this once-popular GPU (I’ve asked for comment, of course), but a look at the current state of the GPU market could prove illuminating.
AMD’s recent statements about pulling out of the flagship GPU battle, combined with a renewed focus on AI for the company, mean that the top card in its first next-gen RDNA 4 lineup could simply be an RX 8700 XT, with no RX 8900 XTX in sight. In the meantime, big dog Nvidia is raking in the AI money and pressing ahead with plans for powerful RTX 5080 and 5090 cards. At this point, sticking to the low- to mid-range space might actually be a very smart idea.
Additionally, many PC gamers don’t have a lot of money to spend on top-tier graphics cards right now. We live in a time of great economic inequality, and many people looking to get into PC gaming or build their first custom PC to replace an outdated laptop could benefit from an affordable 1080p card like this.
Although Bioster While the company hasn’t released pricing information yet, it’s fair to assume this card will debut somewhere around $100 / £100 / AU$200 based on current RX 580 pricing by region. That’s a very reasonable price for anyone looking to put together a budget gaming rig.
There is one downside here: AMD technically no longer supports the RX 580 in its main driver update branch, with its focus shifting to the RDNA series (which started with the Radeon RX 5000 cards in 2019). These older GPUs will still receive some updates, but it should be noted that they can’t really be considered ‘future-proof’ at this point – but again, if you’re looking for a GPU to play older games at 1080p, these could be a great choice.
