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Digital Trends
5 hours ago
- Digital Trends
AMD's RX 9060 seems unnecessary, but it's exactly what gamers need
AMD has just quietly updated its graphics card lineup, but this one is in no danger of competing against some of the best GPUs. The latest arrival, dubbed the AMD Radeon RX 9060, feels a little unnecessary when compared to existing GPUs — but hear me out. Although the spec changes are subtle, I believe that the RX 9060 could be exactly what we need right now. And yes, that's still true even if you're looking for a more high-end GPU. Here's what the RX 9060 non-XT brings to the table, and why I think it could be good news regardless of how powerful it is. What are the specs of the RX 9060 non-XT? The reason why the RX 9060 non-XT might seem unnecessary is that it's extremely similar to the XT version of the card. However, unsurprisingly, it is a little bit worse. Recommended Videos AMD has shared the official specs of the RX 9060 without any fanfare — the card simply received a product page on AMD's official website. Thanks to that, we have a full overview of its specs and can compare it to the two RX 9060 XTs. The RX 9060 sports 28 RDNA 4 compute units (CUs), which means 1,792 streaming processors (SPs) and 64 TOPs. Meanwhile, both the 8GB and the 18GB RTX 9060 XTs offer 32 CUs for a total of 2,048 SPs. This is quite a downgrade, but it's not the only difference. All three cards sport the same 8GB of VRAM across a 128-bit memory bus, and all three are GDDR6. However, the RX 9060 non-XT uses slower memory modules clocked at 18Gbps. As a result, it'll offer a measly 288GB/s of bandwidth. The cut-down specs result in lower power requirements, though: The RX 9060 has a TDP of 132 watts, while the better counterparts are at 150W and 182W. All in all, we're looking at a pretty budget-oriented GPU — one that many enthusiast gamers might turn their nose up at. It's not going to breeze through Cyberpunk 2077 on max settings, that's for sure. But will it be worth buying? Well, we still don't know a few key aspects. We still don't know the most important thing Before we can fully decide whether the RX 9060 will be a worthwhile pick, we'll need to know its most important spec — well, kind of. As AMD hasn't made any announcements about this new GPU, we don't know when it'll launch, where, or at what price. I'm less bothered about the where and when; it's the pricing that concerns me. With specs such as these, the RX 9060 will have a few noteworthy rivals. AMD's RX 9060 XT 8GB isn't much of an interesting offering when the RX 9060 XT 16GB exists. Meanwhile, the RX 9060 will be even worse, putting it in a losing position against cards from the same generation. Intel's Arc B580 will likely continue to be a similar, or better, alternative. It's my favorite GPU this year, and if you can score it near the $249 MSRP, it's an undeniable value pick. Nvidia's got plenty of horses in this particular race, too, although they're all a lot pricier than I imagine the RX 9060 is going to end up being. The RTX 5060 starts at $299 (and is actually readily available at that price, which is rare considering the current state of GPU pricing); the RTX 5060 Ti comes in two memory variants and can be bought for anywhere from $379 to $450. Nvidia also has the recent RTX 5050, which falls far behind the rest of the range due to the addition of GDDR6 memory. I suspect that the RX 9060 might be targeting the RX 5050 in performance, but the RTX 5060 could be an option, too. With such a saturated market and so many GPUs to choose from, the RX 9060 will need competitive pricing to stand out from the crowd. This could be a good thing As a standalone GPU, the RX 9060 won't blow you away — at least I don't believe so. However, as a part of a larger puzzle, it could help. Most of the GPUs around the same caliber are all selling near MSRP right now, which means that AMD will be facing some serious competition — not just from rivals Intel and Nvidia, but also from its own range. As a result, the RX 9060 is unlikely to fly off the shelves, but this could spell good news for its pricing. Nvidia priced the RTX 5050 at $249, and it can be picked up for as much. If AMD aims for a similar price point — perhaps even $239 — that'd be ideal. We'd finally have something closer to a true budget-friendly GPU available for gamers, with what I expect to be alright 1080p performance at under $250. Above $250, the GPU frankly doesn't make a lot of sense, with the RTX 5060 available for $299. Assuming that AMD aims to be competitive here, the RX 9060 could be more than just a budget GPU. It could be a cheap GPU. Given the current state of things, that's exactly what the market needs, and I'm all for it. This is one of those GPUs where the price will truly decide its fate, and I'm really hoping that we'll get a solid value GPU instead of something overpriced.
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
AI Boom, Tariff Shield, Apple Surge: Why TSMC Might Be the Next Big Winner
TSMC (NYSE:TSM) just clocked a 26% sales jump in July, reaching NT$323.2 billion ($10.8 billion)a figure that not only lines up with Street expectations for the quarter but also adds fuel to the broader narrative: AI demand isn't slowing down anytime soon. Year to date, revenue is up 38% versus 2024, even with currency pressure from a stronger Taiwanese dollar. The company is sprinting to keep up with outsized demand from heavyweights like Nvidia and AMD, reinforcing its place as the backbone of the AI hardware supply chain. There's also a political tailwind at play. TSMC's shares in Taipei hit record highs after the Trump administration introduced new chip tariffstariffs that TSMC could dodge thanks to its deep investment in U.S. manufacturing. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, this gives TSMC and GlobalWafers a clear relative advantage over other Taiwan-based peers like United Microelectronics and ASE, who may be left exposed. If this trend holds, U.S.-based chipmakers like GlobalFoundries and Amkor could start capturing share from the slower movers. And the story goes beyond AI. TSMC still supplies a massive share of smartphone chipsand that market is waking up. Sony flagged a recovery in mobile demand during its earnings, and Apple just reported its strongest quarterly revenue growth in over three years, driven by robust China performance. Apple also expects mid-to-high single-digit growth this quarter. That outlook, paired with AI tailwinds and tariff immunity, could set up TSMC for a powerful second-half run. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
AMD Shares Sink Despite Strong Growth. Is It Time to Buy the Dip?
Key Points AMD turned in mixed results, hurt by the Chinese export ban. With the ban expected to be lifted, this should be a temporary headwind. The company still has a huge opportunity in the inference market. 10 stocks we like better than Advanced Micro Devices › After being a laggard to start the year, Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) has rallied strongly during the summer. However, its shares took a dip following the announcement of its second-quarter results, after earnings came in a bit light. The stock now finds itself up about 30% year to date after the pullback, as of this writing. Let's take a closer look to see if this decline is an opportunity to buy the stock. Data center in focus AMD's data center segment has been its biggest growth driver in recent quarters, but revenue rose just 14% in Q2 to $3.2 billion. The slowdown in growth largely stemmed from the company no longer being allowed to sell its MI308 graphics processing units (GPUs) in China during the quarter. This led to a year-over-year revenue decline in its artificial intelligence (AI) business. However, sales are expected to resume in the future once the U.S. government approves its export license to China. Outside of China, the company said it saw solid progress with its MI300 and MI325 GPUs, with increasing adoption. Seven out of 10 of the top model builders and AI companies now use its GPUs. Meanwhile, AMD claimed with the launch of its MI355 GPU that it matches or exceeds the performance of Nvidia's (NASDAQ: NVDA) top B200 chip for both training and inference. At the same time, AMD's central processing units (CPUs) continue to gain market share in the server space. Growth is also being driven by increasing demand for cloud and on-premises compute, and the investments being made in AI infrastructure. AMD's client and gaming segment, which provides CPUs for computers and GPUs for gaming devices, saw revenue surge 69% in the quarter to $3.6 billion. The company saw strong CPU share gains during the quarter and was helped by strong sell-through for AMD-powered commercial notebooks. Meanwhile, it saw strong demand for its newly launched gaming GPUs, as well as an uptick in semi-custom chip revenue. AMD's embedded segment, meanwhile, saw a 4% decline in revenue to $824 million. It expects sequential growth in the second half as demand improves across several key markets. Overall, the company's revenue climbed by 32% to $7.69 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS), however, plunged 30% to $0.48. Analysts were looking for EPS of $0.49 on sales of $7.42 billion, as compiled by LSEG. Note that its EPS was hurt by its $800 million inventory write-down related to Chinese export controls. Looking ahead, AMD projected Q3 revenue to grow by 28% to $8.7 billion, plus or minus $300 million. The guidance does not include any potential revenue from MI308 shipments to China. Should investors buy the dip? The export restrictions on China impacted AMD's Q2 results, although given the comments from President Donald Trump, this headwind should go away in the future. With shipments to China not currently in Q3 guidance, there could be some upside if the company is allowed to begin shipping its GPUs to the country before quarter end. Excluding China, which the company previously said would have a negative $700 million impact in Q2, its data center revenue would have grown about 39% by my calculations. That's solid, although a slowdown from Q1. Still, AMD should have a big opportunity in the future as inference -- where it has a solid niche -- becomes a bigger part of the market. The company is also on track to introduce its M400 chip, which it is looking to compete with Nvidia's next-generation Rubin chip. Turning to valuation, AMD stock trades at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 27.5 times 2026 analyst estimates. That's up significantly from where the stock traded at earlier this year, but if the company can become a meaningful player in the AI inference market, the stock could have a lot of upside in front of it. As such, I think investors can dip a toe into the stock on its pullback. Should you invest $1,000 in Advanced Micro Devices right now? Before you buy stock in Advanced Micro Devices, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Advanced Micro Devices wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,563!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,108,033!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. AMD Shares Sink Despite Strong Growth. Is It Time to Buy the Dip? was originally published by The Motley Fool
