AMD Launches $279 Radeon RX 9050 Budget Gaming GPU
AMD continued expanding across both AI infrastructure and consumer graphics by launching the Radeon RX 9050 graphics card for $279. At the same time, the company reported strong financial growth, driven by increasing demand for AI accelerators and data center products.
AI business fuels strong revenue growth
AMD reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $10.3 billion, representing a 38% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, its data center business generated $5.8 billion in revenue, up 57% year over year. As a result, the segment contributed more than half of the company’s total revenue.
The strong performance came from growing demand for EPYC server processors and Instinct GPUs used in AI workloads.
Additionally, Meta announced plans to deploy up to 6 gigawatts of AMD Instinct GPUs, with the first gigawatt powered by a custom MI450-based chip. AMD also projected second-quarter revenue of approximately $11.2 billion, reflecting expected year-over-year growth of 46%.
Radeon RX 9050 targets budget gamers
AMD officially introduced the Radeon RX 9050 on July 28 as an affordable graphics card based on the 4nm Navi 44 GPU architecture. The card features 1,024 stream processors and comes with 8GB of memory in the retail version.
However, the company also released a 4GB OEM-only model, which sparked criticism from gaming enthusiasts who questioned whether the memory capacity would meet modern gaming requirements.
Initially, the graphics card launched in Asia-Pacific, Japan, and Latin America. Furthermore, ASRock became the first board partner to announce a custom design for the new GPU. The 8GB retail version carries a price tag of $279.
AMD expands across AI and gaming markets
AMD continues to strengthen its position in both enterprise AI and consumer graphics. While its AI infrastructure business drives rapid revenue growth, the company is also refreshing its gaming GPU lineup with new budget-friendly products.
Looking ahead, AMD is expected to release its second-quarter 2026 earnings in early August. Those results will provide a clearer picture of whether the company’s AI-driven momentum continues to accelerate.
