RDNA 5+ Reportedly Arrives in 2029 With AMD’s Zen 7 “Grimlock” APUs

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By David Schroth

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If you were hoping RDNA 5 graphics would trickle down to mainstream laptops quickly, a well-known AMD leaker has some disappointing news. In a NeoGAF thread, a user guessed that RDNA 5 might reach ordinary APUs around 2028. Kepler_L2 replied with a short correction: “RDNA5+ in 2029 with Grimlock.” In other words, the mainstream mobile parts get an updated “5+” version of the architecture inside the Zen 7 “Grimlock” family, a year or more after RDNA 5 itself.

That fits Kepler_L2’s January claim on X that AMD is splitting its APU roadmap in two. Budget designs, and laptops paired with a discrete GPU, would stay on RDNA 3.5 until 2029. Premium parts like Medusa Halo would get RDNA 5 sooner. Kepler_L2 has a long track record on AMD’s RDNA and Zen roadmaps, but this is a one-line forum reply, not a slide deck. Treat the year as directional.

Nobody has explained what separates RDNA 5+ from RDNA 5. The obvious comparison is RDNA 3 to RDNA 3.5: the same family, tuned for integrated graphics power and efficiency rather than a new architecture. AMD has only just brought FSR 4.1 to older Radeon cards, as in our coverage of Adrenalin 26.10.1 adding it to the RX 6000 series. Meanwhile, the rumored RDNA 3.5 hold leaves mainstream laptop iGPUs a generation behind for a long time. Intel is clearly eyeing that opening, with Razor Lake-AX reportedly aimed squarely at Medusa Halo.

2029 is a long way off, and roadmaps slip in both directions. If the split holds, though, the iGPU you get will depend more than ever on which price tier you buy. Let us know your thoughts in the forums..

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Marees
Marees 👍 1

guys, laptop OEMs are very strict with their timelines. absolutely nothing can stop them, including Covid / Ramageddon etc.

this is the expected time line

  1. CES (Jan) 2027

  2. Medusa Point 1 on 128 bit bus lpddr5x socket FP10 (monolithic soc with RDNA 4m igpu)
  3. Medusa Point 1 high on 128 bit bus lpddr5x socket FP10 (monolithic soc with RDNA 4m igpu plus additional CPU ccd)
  4. Medusa Point 2 on 128 bit bus lpddr5x socket FP10 (cut down medusa point 1)

[*]latter half of 2027
  1. Medusa Point 3 (baby/BB medusa aka BumbleBee) — probably new economical socket bare minimum CPU / igpu (RDNA 4m monolithic SoC)

[*]CES (Jan) 2028
  1. Medusa Premium on 128 bit bus lpddr5x socket FP10 (chiplet based with 24 CU AT4 RDNA 5 chiplet)
  2. Medusa Halo on 384 bit bus lpddr6 socket FP12 (chiplet based with 48 CU AT3 RDNA 5 chiplet)

[*]CES (Jan) 2029
  1. Grimlock point 1,2,3,&4 (monolithic Zen7 SoC with integrated RDNA 5+ igpus)

[*]CES (Jan) 2030
  1. Grimlock halo & mini halo (chiplet based zen 7 apus with RDNA 6 chiplets)

Grimlakin
Grimlakin 👍 2

So in the presumed January CES there will be 128 BIT or 128 GIG and 384 BIT or 384 GIG laptops? Because one of those sounds more interesting than the other.

Marees
Marees 👍 2

"Grimlakin, post: 108062, member: 215" wrote:

So in the presumed January CES there will be 128 BIT or 128 GIG and 384 BIT or 384 GIG laptops? Because one of those sounds more interesting than the other.


yes. completely different markets based on budget !!

Peter_Brosdahl
Peter_Brosdahl 👍 1

At least now I know what to try and spot whenever they finally get another Bond movie out.

Marees
Marees 👍 2

"Grimlakin, post: 108062, member: 215" wrote:

So in the presumed January CES there will be 128 BIT or 128 GIG and 384 BIT or 384 GIG laptops? Because one of those sounds more interesting than the other.


just noticed what you were referring to. corrected it 🙏

Marees
Marees

"Grimlakin, post: 108062, member: 215" wrote:

So in the presumed January CES there will be 128 BIT or 128 GIG and 384 BIT or 384 GIG laptops? Because one of those sounds more interesting than the other.

"Marees, post: 108075, member: 1536" wrote:

just noticed what you were referring to. corrected it 🙏

and to clarify: I believe 128 bit bus lpddr5x can support UPTO 128 GB & 384 bit bus lpddr6 probably UPTO 512 GB

David Schroth
David is a computer hardware enthusiast that has been tinkering with computer hardware for the past 25 years and writing reviews for more than ten years. He's the Founder and Editor in Chief of The FPS Review.

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