Overview

Radeon is a computer-hardware brand associated primarily with graphics processing units, graphics cards, integrated graphics, and the software drivers that support them. The brand was introduced by ATI Technologies in 2000 as the successor to ATI's Rage graphics line. Its first generation, based on the R100 architecture, was notable for full DirectX 7 compliance and for technologies such as HyperZ, which improved the efficiency of memory bandwidth and rendering operations. Over time, Radeon became one of the most visible names in consumer PC graphics and was also used in notebook, workstation, professional, embedded, and game-console graphics products. ATI developed Radeon through several major architectural phases. Early fixed-function and programmable-shader families included R100, R200, R300, R400, and R500. The R300 generation was especially significant because it provided full DirectX 9 support and fully programmable vertex and pixel shaders. ATI later moved to a unified-shader design with the R600 family, followed by the R700 and Evergreen generations. Evergreen brought a broad 40-nanometer product range and DirectX 11 support, while the Northern Islands generation marked the transition from the ATI-branded Radeon identity to branding centered on AMD. AMD acquired ATI Technologies in 2006. Radeon products continued to use the ATI Radeon name for several years, but AMD changed the public branding in 2010 to AMD Radeon as part of a broader effort to strengthen AMD's global product identity. Products through the Radeon HD 5000 family generally carried ATI Radeon branding, while the HD 6000 generation and later families were marketed as AMD Radeon. AMD does not ordinarily sell all Radeon graphics cards directly to end users. Instead, it supplies graphics processors and reference designs to board partners, which produce and distribute retail and OEM cards under their own brands. The Radeon architecture portfolio subsequently included Graphics Core Next, Vega, and RDNA. Graphics Core Next supported both graphics and general-purpose compute workloads and was used across multiple generations of Radeon products. The first RDNA architecture, announced in 2019, formed the basis of the Radeon RX 5000 family and introduced a new design emphasis on gaming performance and efficiency, together with GDDR6 memory and PCI Express 4.0 support. RDNA 2 powered Radeon RX 6000 graphics cards and was also adapted for the Xbox Series X and Series S and the PlayStation 5, with console-specific implementations. RDNA 3 introduced chiplet-oriented design elements in high-end products and supported the RX 7000 family. AMD announced RDNA 4 and Radeon RX 9000-series products in 2025. Beyond discrete graphics cards, Radeon has covered integrated graphics, mobile GPUs, graphics compute products, and related technologies. Important capabilities associated with the brand or its underlying platforms have included multi-display Eyefinity, power-management technology, CrossFire multi-GPU operation, video decoding and encoding blocks, and hardware audio features. Radeon software has also evolved substantially: AMD replaced the older Catalyst interface with Radeon Software Crimson Edition in 2015, providing a redesigned control application for Windows and Linux. Open-source Radeon support is also developed through the Linux kernel, Mesa, and related graphics infrastructure, alongside AMD's proprietary software stack. Today, Radeon represents AMD's principal graphics brand for consumer and gaming markets, while related AMD graphics brands address professional, data-center, and embedded applications. Its products compete in discrete and integrated graphics, support PCs and notebooks, and contribute graphics technology to major game consoles. The brand's long history reflects successive changes in graphics APIs, semiconductor manufacturing, memory technology, driver models, and the balance between rasterization, compute, ray tracing, and machine-learning work…

History

Radeon began in 2000 as ATI Technologies' replacement for the Rage graphics line. The original Radeon architecture, commonly identified as R100, was designed for the DirectX 7 era and introduced improvements in rendering efficiency, including HyperZ. ATI expanded the family through successive fixed-pipeline and programmable-shader generations. R200 added more advanced pixel-shader capabilities, while R300 delivered full DirectX 9 support and programmable vertex and pixel shaders. Later R350, R400, and R500 derivatives improved clock speeds, memory access, shader functionality, and support for newer display and rendering features. The R600 generation represented a major architectural change. ATI replaced the earlier arrangement with a unified-shader model, creating the foundation for the TeraScale family. R700 refined that design and helped establish products such as the Radeon HD 4800 series. Evergreen extended the architecture to a broad 40-nanometer range and brought DirectX 11 support to Radeon products. The Northern Islands generation, introduced in 2010, was the first Radeon family marketed solely under the AMD name rather than ATI Radeon. AMD's 2006 acquisition of ATI made Radeon part of AMD's broader processor and platform strategy. The company retained ATI branding for a transitional period, then renamed the product family AMD Radeon in 2010. Radeon graphics were increasingly integrated into notebooks, desktop processors, and OEM systems, while AMD also supplied discrete GPUs to board manufacturers that sold finished cards through retail and system-builder channels. Radeon technologies such as Eyefinity, PowerPlay, CrossFire, video acceleration, and hardware audio supported different aspects of multi-display, power-efficient, multi-GPU, and multimedia use. Graphics Core Next succeeded TeraScale in higher-end products and unified graphics and compute capabilities more closely. The Southern Islands family introduced GCN, followed by Sea Islands and later product generations. Radeon RX 200 and RX 300 series products continued the transition, while Polaris-based RX 400 and RX 500 cards moved to a 14-nanometer process and GCN's fourth generation. Vega products extended GCN with a focus on high-performance graphics and compute. In 2015 AMD created Radeon Technologies Group as a dedicated GPU organization under Raja Koduri. The same year, AMD replaced Catalyst with Radeon Software Crimson Edition, a redesigned driver and control interface. Radeon driver development covered Windows and Linux, while open-source components in the Linux graphics stack were developed through the kernel, Mesa, and related projects. AMD announced RDNA in 2019 as a new graphics microarchitecture emphasizing gaming performance and efficiency. The first RDNA products were the Radeon RX 5700 series, supporting GDDR6 memory and PCI Express 4.0. RDNA 2 followed in 2020 and powered the Radeon RX 6000 family. Customized versions also formed part of the graphics platforms in the Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PlayStation 5. RDNA 3 was announced in 2022 with the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX. In 2025 AMD announced RDNA 4 and Radeon RX 9000-series products, continuing Radeon as AMD's principal consumer graphics brand.

2025
RDNA 4 announced
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
AMD announced RDNA 4 with the Radeon RX 9070 and RX 9070 XT.
2022
RDNA 3 announced
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
AMD announced RDNA 3 and the Radeon RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX.
2020
Radeon RX 6000 and RDNA 2 launched
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
AMD introduced the first Radeon RX 6000 cards based on RDNA 2.
2019
RDNA announced
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
AMD introduced RDNA as the successor to Graphics Core Next.
2015
Radeon Technologies Group formed
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
AMD established a separate GPU organization led by Raja Koduri.
2010
AMD Radeon branding adopted
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
Newer graphics products moved from ATI Radeon to AMD Radeon branding.
2006
ATI acquired by AMD
[2]Advanced Micro Devicesen.wikipedia.org
AMD acquired ATI Technologies, including the Radeon graphics business.
2001
R300 architecture released
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
R300 brought full DirectX 9 support and fully programmable vertex and pixel shaders.
2000
Radeon brand introduced
[1]Radeonen.wikipedia.org
ATI Technologies launched Radeon as the successor to Rage and introduced the R100 graphics architecture.

Products and positioning

Consumer and professional graphics, with a strong emphasis on gaming, PC graphics, integrated graphics, and graphics compute.

Gaming graphics cards · 2013
Radeon RX
Radeon RX is AMD's principal consumer discrete-graphics family. It has covered multiple generations, including RX 200, RX 300, RX 400, RX 500, RX 5000, RX 6000, RX 7000, and RX 9000-series products. Depending on generation, the cards have used GCN, RDNA, RDNA 2, RDNA 3, or RDNA 4 designs and have targeted different desktop gaming and enthusiast performance segments.
Integrated and mobile graphics · 2000
Radeon Graphics
Radeon Graphics is used for graphics processors integrated into AMD platforms and for mobile graphics products. These implementations share technology with discrete Radeon families but are adapted to the power, thermal, memory, and system-integration requirements of notebooks and processors with integrated graphics.
Graphics software · 2015
Radeon Software
Radeon Software is AMD's proprietary driver and control-software stack for supported Radeon hardware. It provides driver support, display configuration, performance controls, game-oriented settings, and access to features associated with Radeon graphics. AMD has also supported Radeon hardware through open-source Linux components developed with the wider kernel and Mesa communities.
Discrete graphics cards · 2020
Radeon RX 6000 Series
The RX 6000 family was the principal desktop implementation of RDNA 2. Its initial products were the RX 6800, RX 6800 XT, and RX 6900 XT, followed by additional models covering lower and midrange segments. The generation also reflected AMD's broader use of RDNA 2-derived graphics technology in game consoles.
Discrete graphics cards · 2022
Radeon RX 7000 Series
The RX 7000 family is based on RDNA 3 and includes high-end products such as the RX 7900 XT and RX 7900 XTX. The generation continued AMD's development of gaming graphics around newer memory, display, rendering, and compute capabilities.

Brand decisions

2019
Move from GCN to RDNAGeneration change
Background
AMD pursued a new graphics architecture focused on improving gaming performance and energy efficiency.
Action taken
AMD announced RDNA and used it as the basis for the Radeon RX 5700 series.
Aftermath
RDNA became the foundation for subsequent Radeon RX generations and customized console graphics implementations.
Source
2015
Create Radeon Technologies GroupStrategy
Background
AMD reorganized its GPU business as graphics became an increasingly distinct product and technology area.
Action taken
AMD formed Radeon Technologies Group and appointed Raja Koduri as senior vice president and chief architect.
Aftermath
The reorganization was followed by a redesigned Radeon software experience and later the development of the RDNA architecture.
Source
2015
Replace Catalyst with Radeon Software Crimson EditionProduct launch
Background
AMD sought to modernize its graphics-driver interface and improve access to Radeon controls and features.
Action taken
AMD released Radeon Software Crimson Edition with a redesigned interface and management tools.
Aftermath
Radeon drivers continued under the Radeon Software identity rather than the former Catalyst branding.
Source
2010
Adopt AMD Radeon brandingStrategy
Background
Following AMD's acquisition of ATI, the company sought to build greater recognition for AMD across its graphics portfolio.
Action taken
AMD transitioned newer Radeon products from the ATI Radeon name to AMD Radeon, beginning with the HD 6000 generation.
Aftermath
The Radeon brand remained in use while its corporate association shifted from ATI to AMD.
Source

Recent events

Unconfirmed
Reported2021.02.18
Sapphire launches Radeon RX 6900 XT 16G TOXIC graphics card[4]蓝宝石发布 Radeon RX 6900 XT 16G TOXIC 显卡finance.sina.com.cn
Sapphire introduced the Radeon RX 6900 XT 16G TOXIC graphics card, which the report describes as the first Radeon RX 6900 XT to use a 360 mm liquid-cooling system. The card was already on sale overseas, with a domestic launch expected later.
Unconfirmed
GIGABYTE launches Radeon RX 6900 XT graphics cards[5]技嘉推出 Radeon RX 6900 XT 系列显示卡ithome.com.tw
GIGABYTE announced the launch of the AORUS Radeon RX 6900 XT MASTER 16G and Radeon RX 6900 XT GAMING OC 16G graphics cards, based on AMD’s RDNA2 architecture.
2020.01.22
Reported2020.01.22
GIGABYTE announces two Radeon RX 5600 XT graphics cards[6]GIGABYTE宣布推出两款Radeon RX 5600 XT显卡hexus.net
GIGABYTE announced the launch of the Radeon RX 5600 XT GAMING OC 6G and Radeon RX 5600 XT WINDFORCE OC 6G graphics cards. The source also lists suggested retail prices and availability through named retailers.
2019.10.07
Reported2019.10.07
AMD unveils Radeon RX 5500 graphics cards[7]AMD发布Radeon RX 5500显卡系列wccftech.com
AMD unveiled the Radeon RX 5500 series, including the RX 5500 XT, RX 5500 and RX 5500M graphics cards for desktop and mobile platforms.

Related entries

AMD