The End of an Era for RX 6000 and RX 5000 Two Generations of GPUs
If you’re a gamer using an AMD Radeon RX 5000 or RX 6000 series graphics card, the way you receive driver updates is about to change significantly. AMD has officially confirmed that these architectures are now in “maintenance mode,” marking the end of dedicated performance optimizations for new game releases.
This move affects a huge number of gamers. The RX 5000 series, launched in 2019, was AMD’s first generation based on its RDNA architecture. The RX 6000 series (RDNA 2), which followed, includes popular and powerful cards like the RX 6700 XT and RX 6800 XT, many of which are still considered excellent for modern gaming. This decision means that the drivers for these cards will no longer be fine-tuned to squeeze out extra performance when the latest games launch.
What “Maintenance Mode” Actually Means for You
In a statement to PC Games Hardware, AMD clarified what this new phase of support entails. The company confirmed that RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 graphics cards “will continue to receive driver updates for critical security fixes and bug corrections.”
However, the key change is in the following sentence: “Future driver updates with specific game optimizations will focus on RDNA 3 and RDNA 4 GPUs.”
In practical terms, this means:
- You will still get drivers, but they will primarily focus on stability and security.
- You will likely not see the performance boosts that often come with “day-one” drivers for new, demanding titles.
- Your card will still work, but it may not perform to its fullest potential in future games without those specific optimizations.
Broader Implications and Unanswered Questions
This policy shift has raised several concerns within the community. First, it leaves owners of relatively new hardware in a tough spot. The last RDNA 2-based desktop GPU, the RX 7900 GRE, launched in 2023, meaning a card barely two years old will no longer receive prioritized game support.
Second, it creates uncertainty around future technologies. The upcoming FSR “Redstone” upscaling technology, for example, is designed to run on a wide range of hardware. However, it’s now unclear if RX 6000 and 5000 series cards will receive the same level of optimization for it as newer GPUs.
Also, Read
- AMD’s New Driver Disables a Key Feature on RX 7900 GPUs and Splits Game Support
- AMD’s Radeon AI PRO R9700, a 32GB Workstation GPU, Launches for DIY Builders October 27
- AMD’s Next Desktop APUs Could Be More Powerful Than Expected, BIOS Leak Suggests
Ultimately, this decision reflects a business reality for AMD. The company has shifted a significant portion of its software engineering resources to its data center products and the ROCm platform, which powers its AI and professional compute initiatives. For gamers holding onto older Radeon cards, the era of peak software support has now officially come to a close.