AMD talks PC GPU ray tracing as it looks to the future of Ryzen and Radeon

AMD confirmed recently that its next-generation RDNA 2 graphics architecture will be its first to include hardware ray tracing, and that it will advance performance-per-watt improvements by an additional 50 percent over its current designs. The company also plans to add a compute-specific version of its GPUs, dubbed “CDNA.”

AMD has traditionally used its financial analyst meetings to provide insight into its future strategy in the CPU and GPU markets, especially with regard to the PC, mobile, and server spaces. It’s the latter market in which AMD is driving hard, as enterprise and scientific markets are willing to pay top dollar for a high-margin Epyc processor—the sort of boon financial analysts like to hear about.

AMD habitually offers more insight into its server road maps as a way of building credibility with customers, chief marketing officer John