If you thought 2026 would be the year PC building finally became easy again, AMD has bad news. As the company enters the new year, it faces a veritable storm of supply chain problems and skyrocketing prices. In a candid conversation with Gizmodo during CES, AMD’s Ryzen boss David McAfee explained the situation, and honestly, it sounds like they’re trying to steer a ship through a hurricane without losing cargo.
The hardware presented at CES tells the story better than any press release could. They revealed the new Ryzen 7 9850X3D and some improved Strix Halo APUs, notably the Ryzen AI Max+ 388 and 382. On paper, these look solid for future laptops or handhelds. But if you look closer, there’s a catch: these new chips still run on the older RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture. You don’t get the shiny new graphics technology yet. Even McAfee admitted that the performance jump from the previous 9800X3D to the new 9850X3D will be rather small – especially if you play esports titles or older games. It feels less like a revolution and more like they’re just keeping the lights on while they wait for the storm to pass.
And the storm is real
The biggest problem isn’t even the chips themselves; it is the memory. DDR5 prices have gone absolutely crazy, increasing by almost 500% in some cases. It’s scary to think about how this affects the cost of a new gaming device. Since AMD doesn’t really have a direct competitor to Nvidia’s monster RTX 5080 or 5090 cards at the moment, the entire strategy is based on offering a “good value” option with cards like the Radeon RX 9070. However, this value proposition falls apart when you have to spend a fortune just to get enough RAM to run the system. McAfee said they are talking to suppliers to try to keep things under control, but it’s clear they’re concerned.
Then there is the software side of things. AMD is rolling out its FSR Redstone update, which uses AI to generate additional frames and smooth gameplay. But gamers are skeptical. We’ve all seen how bad imaging can look when rushed – strange visual artifacts and laggy input. McAfee seems to sense this frustration. He noted that they are proceeding “cautiously” because they know players are tired of technology that feels half-baked.
The light at the end of the tunnel?
At some point we’ll get RDNA 4 APUs, which should add some decent performance to handheld gaming devices. This is where features like frame generation actually make sense, as they help lower-powered devices punch above their weight.
But now? It’s about survival. With memory prices rising and the market changing, AMD isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel this year. They’re just trying to make sure the wheels don’t fall off.
