AMD's flagship graphics card, the Big Navi RDNA 2, will reportedly deliver performance on par with the RTX 2080 Ti and will launch as a direct competitor to the Nvidia Ampere-based GeForce RTX 3080. This is potentially significant because it means that AMD does not expect to take on Nvidia's top-end RTX 3080 Ti when launching its own enthusiast-class GPU.

This is according to a report from Coreteks, which suggests that AMD is sharing new details about its next-generation Radeon cards with its add-in board partners (AIBs). According to the report, the top-of-the-line RDNA 2 GPU, codenamed "Sienna Cichlid," will perform as well as the RTX 2080 Ti, but in a best-case scenario could outperform it by as much as 15% in terms of gaming performance.

As in the past, such a "best case" is limited to some games with AMD-specific optimizations that traditionally offer higher frame rates versus comparable GeForce GPUs.

This level of performance is expected to pit the RTX 3080 against the higher-end Big Navi cards, and AMD Radeon cards will likely be priced below the latecomer Nvidia Ampere GPUs. And we all know how much AMD likes price wars.

Leading up to the announcement of AMD's Big Navi cards this year, there were many performance rumors, some of them conflicting, but none that we could actually point to and say "this is definitely right." If this is indeed from the AIB, it seems a bit more authoritative.

However, it is still anonymous and should be treated with the same skepticism as all other information that has surfaced about the next generation of Radeon GPUs. Currently, performance rumors range from Big Navi destroying Ampere's top card to competing with Ampere's second best card.

However, according to this latest report, a reveal event for the new AMD RDNA 2 card will be held in early September, with a release date of October 7; the Nvidia Ampere release date is rumored to be September 17, suggesting that sampling will occur in late August Since the release date of the Nvidia Ampere is rumored to be September 17, suggesting that sampling will take place in late August, it is not surprising that AMD is aiming to spoil the launch with a last minute announcement.

It may be that AMD announces a guess price ahead of the Ampere launch, which then miraculously drops before the Big Navi launch; the "Jebate" situation at the RX 5700 XT launch was strange, but I don't doubt that something like that could happen again.

Coreteks' AIB source also suggests that a pair of Big Navi GPUs based on the same Sienna Cichlid silicon will be launched. This is not too much of a stretch, as this is traditional practice for AMD graphics cards and is truly a unique rule of two. This usually means that a cut-down card will be released along with a full-fat option. Last year's RX 5700 XT and RX 5700, RX 580 and RX 570, R9 390X and R9 390... Etc. etc.

And traditionally, we usually recommend the lower specs. This is because the lower price, and generally only a slight spec reduction, often makes the card a better value in comparison, offering very similar performance.

If we are to believe the reports, it appears that these two Sienna Cichlid cards will be the only Big Navi GPUs we will see this year, with a second fish-based codename "Navy Flounder" associated with the new RDNA 2 architecture, reportedly a mid-range version of the Big Navi GPU that will be released in the first three months of 2021.

With only the high-end market set to be served at the end of this year, it seems almost certain that most of us will have to wait until next year to see something more affordable than the ultra-enthusiast and ultra-expensive GeForce and Radeon cards It is.