AMD’s latest processors focus on AI performance with a huge uplift in XDNA NPU speed.
It’s probably not an exaggeration to say that AI may be the biggest tech buzzword since the invention of the integrated circuit—bigger than blockchain, bigger than cloud computing, bigger than IoT, and so on. Unlike a lot of buzzwords, however, AI isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, and it’s critical for a processor company today to have strong AI offerings.
That’s exactly why AMD emphasized the AI performance of its brand-new, just-announded Ryzen 8040 series processors at is « Advancing AI » event, where the company also detailed its Instinct MI300 family of accelerators.
As you read this, the Ryzen 8040 series is headed to factories where it’ll be implemented into mobile devices and mini-PCs that you’ll be able to buy early next year. In terms of CPU and GPU capabilities, these parts are fundamentally similar to the extant Ryzen 7040 series APUs, with up to eight Zen 4 CPU cores and up to twelve RDNA 3 compute units. NPU performance is really the only notable change in the « Hawk Point » Ryzen 8040 series over this year’s « Phoenix ». Check out the full lineup here:
There are lots of quizzical model number changes here; many processors got their last digit changed to a « 5, » which if we consult the AMD mobile processor model number decoder ring, means that they are « upper models within their segment. » So, the Ryzen 9 7940HS gets replaced in the stack by the Ryzen 9 8945HS while the Ryzen 7 7840HS steps out for the Ryzen 7 8845HS, and so on.
Curiously, there’s also a Ryzen 7 8840HS and a Ryzen 5 8640HS; these appear to be the exact same CPUs but with a lower 20-30W power range compared to the « 35-54W » of most of the other parts. There are also a few « U » series processors that have a 15-30W power range.
