MSI is focusing pretty much on Nvidia’s graphics cards, it would seem, and has more or less stopped making AMD GPUs.
Or at least the amount of MSI’s Radeon graphics cards on shelves has dwindled considerably, to the point where it’s been noticed by several sources – one of which contacted MSI and got an official response from the board maker.
Did I miss this story? MSI has been completely removed from AMD’s Radeon 7000 series, all existing products have been discontinued and they never released a 7700 XT/7800 XT. This all seems to have happened very quietly.April 26, 2024
Hardware Unboxed flagged this up on X (formerly Twitter), but it was German tech site Hardware Luxx (via VideoCardz) who contacted and heard back from MSI.
The manufacturer stated: “When it comes to graphics cards, our focus at the moment is actually more on RTX cards. Nevertheless, the collaboration with AMD is essential and extremely relevant for us. We see a very positive development, particularly in the area of mainboards.”
So, while that is hardly a declaration of abandoning Radeon GPUs – the wording is about ‘focusing’ more on Nvidia graphics cards, rather than wholly on Team Green’s GeForce range – it’s pretty obvious where MSI’s priorities lie.
That’s made clear enough if you look at the listed cards on MSI’s page for its Radeon RX 7000 models, of which only three are now present (an RX 7600 model, plus a 7900 XT and 7900 XTX).
As Hardware Luxx points out, a German price comparison site only lists an RX 7900 XT Gaming Trio as on sale from MSI’s line-up of RDNA 3 GPUs. We popped onto Newegg to see what MSI Radeon products the retailer is currently offering in the US, and there’s just one – again an MSI Gaming model, but this time an RX 7900 XTX. Still, the point remains that this is the sole model on sale.
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Analysis: Being diplomatic – but don’t worry about mobos
It seems clear enough that MSI is running down production of RX 7000 models, then, and the statement from the firm backs that up. To state that its focus is “more on RTX cards” feels like a diplomatic stance on the matter, when clearly MSI’s plans are now very skewed towards Team Green.
Indeed, we saw clues to this when AMD launched its RX 7800 XT and 7700 XT GPUs to fill out the mid-range of RDNA 3, and MSI was noticeably absent from the list of launch partners – and never did produce boards based on those graphics chips. MSI was also slow off the mark with RX 7900 launches way back, too.
MSI was once a substantial backer of Radeon GPUs, but that no longer appears to be the case, and its attention has all but entirely shifted to GeForce RTX graphics cards. Can we expect that RTX 5000 models will be the only ones made by MSI, and RX 8000 (RDNA 4) may be entirely left by the wayside? It looks like this is a possibility that can’t be discounted.
For those worrying about MSI’s motherboard support on the AMD side, there’s no need to fret, as this doesn’t affect the hardware maker’s efforts in that respect. That’s clarified in the above statement and the reference to mainboards, another term for motherboards, with MSI talking about this in a wholly different way, mentioning a “very positive development” in that particular area. Which we’d read as PR-speak for ‘business as usual’ of course.