It seems as though AMD is readying a new mobile APU that bears a striking resemblance to the existing Ryzen Z2 Extreme. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 HX 455 was recently leaked by Golden Pig Upgrade on Weibo, with the post suggesting that the new CPU would launch with eight cores and 16 threads and a 16 CU iGPU, while the 16 CU iGPU will reportedly be identical to the existing Radeon 890M on the Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme, which has proven itself capable of very decent gaming performance in our in-depth review of the ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X.

The exact core breakdown is unknown, but in a response to a question about the CCD layout, the leaker alludes to a similar layout to the Z2 Extreme, which features three Zen 5 cores and five Zen 5c cores across two CCDs, although the new APU will have a significantly larger cache to work with—24 MB L3 instead of the Z2 Extreme's 16 MB—signalling that it will be a cut-back version of the existing Ryzen AI HX 470 APU, which features four Zen 5 cores and eight Zen 5c cores.

At IFA 2026, GEEKOM showcased its latest GeekBook X16 Pro, designed to be a thin and light powerhouse. At the heart of this system is AMD's latest "Gorgon Point" APU. The showcased unit features an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470, which includes four "Zen 5" cores and eight "Zen 5c" cores, totaling 12 cores and 24 threads. Paired with this CPU cluster is AMD Radeon 890M integrated graphics for a solid experience in 3D rendering, gaming, and local AI performance. The system includes 32 GB (8 GB x 4) of soldered SK hynix LPDDR5 RAM running at 8533 MT/s and a 2 TB Lexar SSD.

The entire laptop body is crafted from aerospace-grade magnesium alloy in a precision-milled CNC unibody design. It hosts a 16-inch 2560x1600 IPS screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate, 100% sRGB coverage, and integrated eye protection features. Inside, the system is powered by a 77 Wh high-capacity battery, providing up to 17 hours of standby time, while charging is handled by a 65 W GaN PD Fast Charging adapter. Wired connectivity includes a single 3.5 mm audio jack, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A, a USB 3.2 Type C, a USB4 running at 40 Gbps transfer speed, and an HDMI 2.1 port. Wireless connectivity features Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.4, while audio is managed by stereo speakers with DTS:X Ultra Audio.

When rumors and leaks about the internals of the upcoming PlayStation 6 Portable handheld started to emerge, we caught wind that the upcoming gaming handheld would feature a Zen 6c CPU with four Zen 6c cores and two Zen 6 LP cores. The rumors that the PS6 Portable would feature Zen 6 LP cores has been corroborated by a new Linux kernel patch from AMD engineer, Vishal Badole, that includes support for Zen 6 LP cores, piling evidence on top of Sony's recent hints that it is developing a standalone gaming handheld for the PS6 generation. The kernel update adds support for a new CPU classification and reads:

"This series extends the x86 topology cpu_type classification to support a Low Power core type, in addition to the existing Performance and Efficiency types. AMD heterogeneous parts report the core type via CPUID Fn0x80000026 EBX [31:28](Extended CPU Topology, Core Type). Value 2 identifies a low-power core designed for minimal power consumption during background or idle workloads."

On Monday, AMD announced its latest Ryzen AI 400 Series and Ryzen AI PRO 400 Series desktop processors, based on the "Gorgon Point" silicon and powered by the "Zen 5" core configuration. This generation follows the Ryzen 8000G series, known as "Phoenix Point." However, it has been revealed that the Ryzen AI 400 series reduces the number of usable PCIe lanes compared to the previous Ryzen 8000G generation. The new top SKU offers 16 native PCIe 4.0 lanes, but only 12 are available to the rest of the system. Four of these PCIe lanes are used for the chipset link that connects the AM5 socket to the motherboard chipset, leaving fewer lanes for the end-user. Lower-tier chips may provide as few as 10 usable lanes, which is insufficient to run a discrete GPU at its full 16x lanes in the PCIe 4.0 connector on the AM5 motherboard. When a user installs an M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, only eight lanes remain available for a discrete graphics card, meaning the GPU will operate in x8 mode instead of x16.

Interestingly, AMD hasn't fully utilized the "Gorgon Point" silicon in the desktop Ryzen AI 400G series. For example, the top model—Ryzen AI 7 450G—is configured with four "Zen 5" cores and four "Zen 5c" cores, making up an eight-core configuration. The fully unlocked "Gorgon Point" silicon in laptops has 12 cores in total, with four "Zen 5" and eight "Zen 5c" cores. This is a similar configuration to "Strix Point," but adapted for mobile. It's also worth noting AMD's approach with the iGPU. The top 450G processor model only comes with 8 iGPU compute units, which is half the CUs physically available on the silicon. Most other processor models in the series come with just 4 CUs.

AMD earlier today announced the Ryzen AI 400 series desktop APUs in the Socket AM5 package. These are the company's second desktop APU generation on Socket AM5 following the Ryzen 8000G series "Phoenix Point." While "Phoenix Point" is based on "Zen 4," the newer Ryzen AI 400 series is built on the "Gorgon Point" silicon powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. A key difference between the two APU generations is the emphasis on AI performance. "Gorgon Point" packs an XDNA 2 NPU with 50 TOPS of throughput on tap, making Ryzen AI 400 series the first socketed desktop processor that meets Microsoft Copilot+ requirements.

While "Phoenix Point" featured a single CCX design with up to eight full-sized "Zen 4" cores, "Gorgon Point" reverts to a dual-CCX design for its CPU complex. The first CCX features four full-sized "Zen 5" cores that can boost up to the maximum rated speed of the APU model, along with 8 MB of L3 cache that's shared among the four "Zen 5" cores. The second CCX features four compacted "Zen 5c" cores, with an 8 MB L3 cache shared among them. "Zen 5c" is a physically compacted version of "Zen 5," it has an identical IPC and ISA, but it caps out at roughly two-thirds the maximum boost frequency of the full-sized "Zen 5" cores. For threads to migrate between the two CCX, their instructions and data make a trip through the chip's Infinity Fabric interconnect, just like it was during the old "Zen 2" architecture days.

AMD announced its Ryzen AI 400 series "Gorgon Point" mobile APUs based on Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores at CES 2026 earlier this year, simultaneously showing off the AM5-based Ryzen AI 400-branded desktop APUs at the same show. Now, according to a new leak by Moore's Law is Dead on X, AMD will allegedly launch the new Ryzen AI 400-series desktop processors for AM5 in the first half of 2026. MLID adds that the launch may even happen as early as Q1. He also released what he claims to be a short promotional video of an AMD Ryzen AI 400 Pro processor in an AM5 socket to lend credence to his leak.

Exact specifications for the AM5 APUs are unconfirmed, but if they're anything like the laptop counterparts, it is expected that the new APUs will launch with the same silicon as Strix Point but with adjusted power management and increased clock speeds. This means we can expect to see the Ryzen AI 400 desktop processors top out with a 12-core (4× Zen 5; 8 × Zen 5c) CPU cluster tied to a 16 CU RDNA 3.5 iGPU, and a 60 TOPS NPU.

Early last week, AMD briefed members of the press about a new Ryzen AI 400 series coming to desktop in the near future. At the time, details and visual material were scarce—fundamentally, 4 nm "Gorgon Point" monolithic silicon seems to be freeing itself from mobile platform origins. As CES 2026 wrapped up, detective work continued online. Late last week, VideoCardz realized that Saša Marinković (a senior director of Global Consumer Marketing at Team Red) had captured an important moment during Dr. Lisa Su's on-stage presentation at Lenovo Tech World.

In the background, a projected slide showed off three important upcoming new-gen families: EPYC, Instinct (accelerator), and the aforementioned Ryzen AI PRO 400 APU design. The latter was rendered/depicted in desktop socketed format, on the familiar AM5 platform. This likely reaffirms previous reports that AMD has moved on from past-gen desktop APU nomenclature; e.g. Ryzen 8000G. Up until the start of this year, many industry observers predicted an introduction of Ryzen 9000G APU products, armed with XDNA 2 NPUs, at the important January trade event. Going further into 2026, Team Red is expected to announce various Ryzen AI 400 desktop SKUs, featuring Zen 5/Zen 5c core configurations and RDNA 3.5-based iGPUs.

GPD, a well-known manufacturer of mini PCs with unique form factors, showcased its entire lineup of systems powered by AMD "Strix Halo" and "Strix Point" at CES 2026. Leading the lineup is the GPD WIN 5, a handheld device featuring the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. It offers up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X system memory running at 8,000 MT/s, supporting the 16-core/32-thread CPU and Radeon 8060S integrated graphics. The system provides up to 4 TB of SSD storage, with ports including USB4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, and slots for microSD and Mini SSD for additional storage. It features a 7-inch 1080p display and an 80 Wh battery.

AMD at the 2026 International CES announced the new Ryzen AI 400 series "Gorgon Point" mobile processors powering the company's client processor lineup through 2026. These chips are based on the new 4 nm "Gorgon Point" silicon that is a refresh of the current "Strix Point" monolithic processor supporting higher clock speeds across its various compute components, and updates to its power management. The processor implements the "Zen 5" microarchitecture, and uses a dual-CCX CPU with four full-sized "Zen 5" cores sharing a 16 MB L3 cache, and eight compact "Zen 5c" cores sharing an 8 MB L3 cache. The "Zen 5" cores boost up to 5.20 GHz, while the iGPU goes up to 3.10 GHz engine clock. The chip features an iGPU based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture with 16 compute units (CU). Both the CPU and iGPU feature improved boost residency over "Strix Point."

Besides the CPU and iGPU, the integrated NPU also gets a performance uplift, with increased NPU clock speeds enabling a peak throughput of 60 TOPS, up from 55 TOPS on Ryzen AI 300 series processors. AMD has also given the processor a feature-packed ROCm software stack, so client AI software can leverage this 60 TOPS NPU and the AI acceleration capabilities of the iGPU and CPU. Lastly, AMD has updated the integrated memory controllers, giving them native support for LPDDR5X 8533 MT/s memory speeds, an increase from the 8000 MT/s that "Strix Point" natively supports. Despite these improvements, "Gorgon Point" remains mostly similar to "Strix Point" at a physical level, and so AMD took the opportunity to refresh the way the various Ryzen AI 400 series processor models are segmented from this silicon, giving each SKU an improvement over its Ryzen AI 300 series predecessor. This could be anything from CPU clock speeds, to CPU core-count, to iGPU CU count, and NPU throughput.

A fairly unique "Gorgon Point" mobile processor has turned up multiple times within the Geekbench Browser database. Instead of discovering the usual Geekbench 6.x-based entries, Olrak29 put a spotlight on scores and diagnostic data produced by Geekbench AI 1.5 benchmark sessions. Six Fujitsu Client Computing test systems posted results on December 9, all featuring an unreleased Ryzen AI 7 445 APU. So far, leaks of slightly refreshed "Strix Point" and "Krackan Point" designs have been compared to direct predecessors, but the leaked Ryzen AI 7 445 SKU seems to be an outlier—in terms of nomenclature and core configuration. The closest forebear would be Team Red's Ryzen AI 5 340 "Krackan Point" mobile chip; sporting a mixture of "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" cores.

The current-gen 6-core design consists of three standard cores, and three "compact" alternatives. When looking at Geekbench browser entries, the forthcoming Ryzen AI 7 445 model sports two "Zen 5" cores (in cluster 1) and four "Zen 5c" units (in cluster 2). Geekbench AI 1.5 diagnostics do not provide a comprehensive set of specifications, but base frequency was tracked at 2.00 GHz, and the detected integrated graphics solution was AMD's RDNA 3.5-based Radeon 840M. As mentioned earlier, the not-yet-launched CPU's unusual core configuration was not copied from any readily available/current processor products—Team Red could be readying the Ryzen AI 7 445 APU for eventual deployment in efficiency-oriented platforms.

A fresh update of AMD's chipset driver package seems to contain a major reference to an unreleased mobile processor series. The "pmf_ryzen_ai400series" directory was found within Team Red's Chipset Software v7.10.02.711 release. By simple deduction, PC hardware news outlets reckon that the "Gorgon Point" family is ready for validation at OEMs. Related leaks have come from mid-year shipping manifests, and recent benchmark diagnostics. Industry observers believe that AMD will unveil this "refreshed" product lineup at next month's CES trade event. Attendees will likely witness a redeployment of trusted current-gen technologies: Zen 5 + Zen 5c CPU cores, RDNA 3.5 iGPUs, and XDNA 2 NPUs. Simply put, the "Gorgon Point" laptop/notebook-oriented processor lineup will likely arrive as a mild upgrade over readily available Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" forebears. Until "Zen 6" heads to mobile platforms later on in 2026, interim Ryzen AI 400 APUs are expected to drive a new wave of portable AI PCs.

AMD is gearing up to refresh its "Strix Point" APUs with the upcoming "Gorgon Point" generation, set for release in 2026. Recent online benchmarks have provided the first glimpse of this new APU. A submission to SiSoftware reveals an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 model. The "Gorgon Point" APU offers a boost in single-threaded performance while maintaining the same CPU core and iGPU architecture. It features up to 12 cores and 24 threads based on "Zen 5" or "Zen 5c," an iGPU based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, and an NPU based on XDNA 2. The cache configuration is listed as 12×1 MB of L2 and 3×16 MB of L3 cache. Although the core architecture remains largely unchanged, the CPU, iGPU, and NPU receive performance enhancements over the existing "Strix Point" chip.

According to leaked partner slides, the main difference is a slight increase in boost clock speeds for the new APU generation. In SiSoftware run, th Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 was spotted running 5.25 GHz boost frequency, which is a modest improvement from the previous 5.1 GHz, while maintaining a 28 W default TDP. The NPU throughput has been moderately increased to deliver over 55 AI TOPS. AMD has enabled full NPU performance across all tiers of Ryzen AI SKUs based on this chip. AMD's own benchmarks of the "Gorgon Point" APU are also shown below, as revealed by an earlier leak from a confidential presentation in China.

The AMD Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme coming to the recently announced ASUS ROG Xbox Ally X in October, on paper, seems to be a sizeable upgrade over the Z1 Extreme found in the original ASUS ROG Ally and Ally X. The Radeon 890M iGPU in the new APU alone offers a sizeable 33% increase in stream processors over its predecessor, while the new CPU features more cache and an upgrade to Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores. This combination seems to be paying off, according to a brief test of Doom: The Dark Ages, shown off by Cary Golomb on X.

According to the tech influencer, the Xbox Ally X was capable of running Doom: The Dark Ages at 70 FPS with ray tracing and AMD FSR frame generation enabled. This was with FSR upscaling the image from 540p to 1080p and a mix of medium and low settings. Perhaps more impressive are the power draw and the internal temperatures during gaming. Even with the TDP set to a very respectable 18 W, and with the GPU running at 97% load, the temperature read-out was still showing 57° C. Given that gaming handheld is under load on the smaller side compared to some of the recent 11-inch monstrosities that have popped up, the temperature under load demonstrates a decently capable cooling solution.

It looks like AMD is refreshing its Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs as the newer Ryzen 9000G series, these chips will be powered by the older "Zen 4" microarchitecture, and not the latest "Zen 5," suggests a credible rumor on ChipHell. It was anticipated that the Ryzen 9000G series would be based on the 4 nm "Strix Point" monolithic silicon, or its updated variant, "Krackan Point." The chip features a dual-CCX CPU component with one CCX packing four "Zen 5" cores sharing 16 MB of L3 cache, and the second CCX featuring eight "Zen 5c" cores sharing an 8 MB L3 cache. The "Zen 5c" cores operate at lower average clock speeds than "Zen 5," and hence don't need large amounts of last-line cache. "Strix Point" also features a large RDNA 3.5 iGPU with 16 compute units, and most importantly, a powerful NPU with 50 AI TOPS, which meets Microsoft Copilot+ requirements. This is not going to be the case for the Ryzen 9000G, if the rumor is true.

If based on the older 4 nm "Hawk Point" silicon, the 9000G series will feature a single CCX CPU with eight full-size "Zen 4" cores sharing a 16 MB L3 cache; and an RDNA 3 based iGPU with 12 compute units, but unfortunately a much slower NPU with only 16 TOPS of throughput, which doesn't meet Copilot+ requirements. Perhaps the only things differentiating the 9000G series from the 8000G series are minor speed bumps, around 200 MHz increases in CPU clock speeds across the board, and a 100 MHz increase in iGPU engine clocks. All is not lost, as the non-socketed mobile Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" processor can be had in plenty of MoD (mobile-on-desktop) mini PCs, and we can see from recent product launches that PC OEMs are all over the Ryzen AI Max "Strix Halo" chip, putting it into prebuilt desktops.

MSI began rolling out UEFI firmware updates for its Socket AM5 motherboard lineup that encapsulate AMD AGESA 1.2.0.3F microcode. This latest version of AGESA comes with support for several new upcoming processor SKUs, including Ryzen 9000F series, which are "Granite Ridge" based chips with integrated graphics disabled; as well as AMD's upcoming Ryzen 9000G series desktop APUs, which are expected to be based on the 4 nm "Krackan Point" monolithic silicon. This chip features a 12-core CPU (4x "Zen 5" + 8x "Zen 5c"), a powerful iGPU based on RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture with up to 16 compute units; and the Ryzen AI XDNA 2 NPU capable of 50 AI TOPS, meeting Microsoft Copilot+ local acceleration requirements.

Besides support for new processors, AGESA 1.2.0.3F is also expected to lend 256 GB platform maximum memory support using four 64 GB DIMMs (2 DIMMs per channel). The firmware carries over many of the fTPM security vulnerability mitigations introduced with AGESA 1.2.0.3, which are recommended for all users. Lastly, MSI introduced several overclocking stability improvements with its latest firmware updates. Grab these updates from the Support section of the product page of your motherboard model on the MSI website.

AMD yesterday released the Ryzen AI 5 330 mainstream notebook processor capable of Copilot+. The company's pre-launch materials for the chip weren't clear on what silicon the processor is based on, and what its exact CPU core configuration is, besides vaguely mentioning 4 cores and its top boost specs. The company today put up detailed specs of the chip, and it turns out that the Ryzen AI 5 330 is based on a physically smaller monolithic chip dubbed "Krackan Point 2." AMD builds this chip on the TSMC N4P node.

A successor to "Phoenix 2," Krackan Point 2, as configured on the Ryzen AI 5 330, comes with a single heterogenous CCX that has four cores, one of these is a regular "Zen 5," and the other three "Zen 5c" cores. The four cores each have 1 MB of L2 cache, and share 8 MB of L3 cache. All four cores come with a base frequency of 2.00 GHz, but while the lone "Zen 5" core boosts up to 4.50 GHz, the three "Zen 5c" cores only boost up to 3.40 GHz. All four cores come with SMT, and share a common ISA, so threads can migrate among them seamlessly without encountering runtime errors. A software-based power management solution uses UEFI CPPC2-based "preferred core" flagging to ensure priority to the "Zen 5" core. The chip comes with a default TDP of 28 W, although OEMs can configure this between 15 W and 28 W.

AMD today introduced the Ryzen AI 5 330, a mainstream mobile processor model for Microsoft Copilot+ ready notebooks at mainstream price-points. The processor comes with a slim CPU complex, but a full-featured NPU to locally accelerate Copilot+ and other edge AI use-cases. The processor comes with a configurable TDP of 15 W to 28 W, making it fit into most mainstream notebook form-factors with minimal cooling needs.

As for specs, the Ryzen AI 5 330 is based on a cut down variant of the 4 nm "Strix Point" monolithic silicon. Its CPU complex is 4-core/8-thread, although AMD didn't specify what the mix of "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" cores is. It comes with 12 MB of "total cache" (L2+L3), which means the L3 cache is 8 MB, given that both the "Zen 5" and "Zen 5c" core types come with 1 MB L2 caches. The CPU cores are clocked at 2.00 GHz, with 4.50 GHz maximum boost frequency. Meanwhile, the iGPU model is dubbed Radeon 820M, and is configured with 2 compute units for 128 stream processors. The NPU, however, is the fully fledged XDNA 2 unit with 50 TOPS. We expect notebooks powered by the Ryzen AI 5 330 to be priced well under the $500 mark.

Last month, a confidential presentation in China gave AMD's laptop partners their first glimpse of what's coming next. The slides hinted at modest clock-speed improvements and the addition of more entry-level models, all under the codename "Gorgon Point." Not long after, NBD's shipping manifests today show a series of new FP8, FP10, and FP12 product codes. These identifiers don't match any existing "Strix Point" or "Kracken Point" chips, so it's clear AMD is gearing up for a Ryzen AI 400-series refresh set to roll out around mid-2026. Despite the new name, Gorgon Point sticks with the same winning formula. It still uses Zen 5 and Zen 5c CPU cores alongside RDNA 3.5 graphics and XDNA 2 neural accelerators. Core counts haven't changed, so you'll see configurations ranging from 4 to 12 cores just like before, with up to 4x Zen 5 and 8x Zen 5c cores.

What's different, according to the leaked partner slides, is a slight bump in boost clocks. The top-end Ryzen AI 9 HX 475 and 470 chips are now rated for up to 5.2 GHz, a slight but welcome increase from the previous 5.1 GHz, while maintaining a 28 W default TDP. AMD is also broadening its reach into budget laptops. In addition to the Ryzen 9 HX upgrades, the company will introduce new Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 3 models. Early leaks mention parts numbered 440 and 430, as well as a mystery Ryzen 3 SKU. These entry-level chips will use the same Gorgon Point silicon but will be tuned for cost-sensitive devices. Branding will likely follow AMD's recent pattern. Given how AMD has renumbered previous families, slotting Gorgon Point into familiar retail channels should be straightforward. Until AMD makes an official announcement, these shipping manifests and partner leaks are the best clues we have about the performance and efficiency gains in the next wave of AI-accelerated laptops.

AMD began rolling out its latest AGESA ComboAM5 microcode for Socket AM5 platforms, as confirmed by an ASUS BIOS update for its ROG Crosshair X870E Hero motherboard. The company will likely get motherboard vendors and prebuilt OEMs to release BIOS updates with the new AGESA 1.2.0.3e microcode for both AMD 600-series and AMD 800-series chipset motherboards. Version 1.2.0.3e patches a security vulnerability with the firmware TPM (fTPM) component needed to establish a hardware root of trust. This is also a minimum system requirement for Windows 11. The vulnerability discovered by Trusted Computing Group, involves an OOB (out of bounds) read method that could compromise the root of trust.

Interestingly, the ASUS change-log mentions that AGESA 1.2.0.3e introduces support for an "upcoming CPU." We know from older reports that this upcoming CPU is the Ryzen 9000G "Gorgon Point" desktop APU. These processors are based on the 4 nm "Gorgon Point" monolithic silicon, which is a revision of "Strix Point," similar to how "Hawk Point" was to "Phoenix Point." There are no changes to the IP of either the CPU complex, or the iGPU, or even the NPU, but updates to their clock speeds or boosting algorithm. The CPU consists of two CCX, one with four "Zen 5" cores sharing a 16 MB L3 cache; and the other with eight "Zen 5c" cores sharing an 8 MB L3 cache. The iGPU is based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, and comes with 16 compute units. The NPU is based on XDNA 2, and offers at least 50 AI TOPS, giving the chip Microsoft Copilot+ local acceleration capability. The PCIe complex is Gen 4, and the main PEG interface is narrowed down to PCI-Express 4.0 x8.

Sapphire brought unique new hardware to Computex 2025. We begin our tour with the new Sapphire Edge AI line of mini PCs. First up, is the Edge AI 370, a mini PC measuring 117 mm x 111 mm x 30 mm (WxDxH). It is powered by AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 "Strix Point" mobile processor, with two DDR5 SO-DIMM slots supporting up to 96 GB of memory. Storage comes from a 1 TB Gen 4 NVMe SSD. The CPU is configured with 12 cores (4x Zen 5 + 8x Zen 5c), while the maxed out RDNA 3.5 iGPU has 16 CU. The XDNA 2 NPU is clocked for 50 AI TOPS, and meets Microsoft Copilot+ requirements.

Next up, is the Sapphire X870EA Wi-Fi PhantomLink Edition motherboard. This is Sapphire's first high-end motherboard in years. The Socket AM5 motherboard is based on the flagship AMD X870E chipset, and offers premium connectivity and I/O features. It's also designed to visually match the company's latest Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ graphics card, but its most striking feature is PhantomLink. This is a backside power delivery feature similar to ASUS BTF. The main PCI-Express 5.0 x16 slot has a trailing power delivery slot that relays power from a 12V-2x6 power input located next to the 24-pin ATX connector on the motherboard. This may not be a complete backside I/O motherboard, but at least keeps the graphics card free from any power cables sticking out. To use PhantomLink, however, you need a compatible graphics card, and Sapphire showed us the Radeon RX 9070 XT NITRO+ PhantomLink Edition.

Three months ago, AMD unveiled its Ryzen Z2 APU series at CES 2025—purpose made for deployment in next-gen handheld gaming PCs. The officially announced flagship—Ryzen Z2 Extreme "Strix Point," utilizing Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies—was previously alluded to by leakers in late 2024; albeit with some curious claims regarding an "odd 3+5 core configuration." Last week, Hoang Anh Phu (@AnhPhuH) presented an alleged expanded lineup of Ryzen Z2 processors—headlined by a mysterious "Ryzen AI Z2 Extreme" SKU.

PC hardware watchdogs believe that this speculative variant will eventually arrive with an enabled XDNA 2 NPU (a first for the series); likely readied to take on Intel's Core Ultra 200V "Lunar Lake" processor family. MSI's Core Ultra 7 258V-powered Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ handhelds launched not too long ago, boasting all sorts of Microsoft Copilot+ capabilities. Mid-way through March, an Xbox executive introduced "Copilot for Gaming." Team Red and manufacturing partners are likely jumping onto this "AI gaming" bandwagon with the aforementioned "AI Ryzen Z2 Extreme" chip, as well as Phu's fanciful "Ryzen Z2 A" model. The latter could be a spin-off of AMD's vanilla Ryzen Z2 "Hawk Point" design, with a "switched on" XDNA NPU.

AMD presented its next generation mobile processor that succeeds its current Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" to its industry partners. This presentation allegedly got leaked to the web. The 2026 successor to "Strix Point" is codenamed "Gorgon Point," and offers a significant single-threaded performance uplift while interestingly retaining the CPU core and iGPU IP. The slides mention "Gorgon Point" as combining up to 12 CPU cores based on "Zen 5" or "Zen 5c," an iGPU based on the RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture, and an NPU based on XDNA 2—so for the most part the IP is unchanged. The CPU, iGPU, and NPU, get performance upgrades over the current "Strix Point" chip.

AMD accompanied the specs slides with first party performance numbers. The multithreaded CPU performance numbers are moderately higher, which seem to indicate that the CPU core configuration of 4x "Zen 5" + 8x "Zen 5c" seems to be carried over; but the single-threaded performance sees a significant increase. We're not sure what's driving this, but there are two theories. The more obvious one is a significant increase in clock speeds, helped by an updated power management; but the second more radical theory is that AMD updated the "Zen 5" P-cores to have full fat 512-bit FP capabilities, similar to the "Zen 5" cores in "Fire Range" and "Strix Halo" processors. If you recall, the "Zen 5" cores in "Strix Point" have their FPUs limited to dual-pumped 256-bit paths to execute AVX512 instructions, a design choice probably driven by power considerations. The NPU throughput has been moderately increased to deliver over 55 AI TOPS, AMD enabled the full NPU performance across all tiers of Ryzen AI SKUs based on this chip. In all, "Gorgon Point" is to "Strix Point" what "Hawk Point" was to "Phoenix Point."

Advantech, a leading provider of edge computing and edge AI solutions, is pleased to announce their high-performance server and network appliances are now powered by the latest AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors. By leveraging these cutting-edge platforms, Advantech is driving edge computing and AI to new heights—making solutions ideal for 5G edge cloud, AI, machine learning, and enhanced data security.

"We are excited about the launch of Advantech's latest generation of innovative edge computing and AI solutions powered by AMD EPYC Embedded 9005 Series processors," said Amey Deosthali, Senior Director of embedded core markets at AMD. "Optimized for embedded markets, EPYC Embedded 9005 provides exceptional compute performance for edge AI applications while delivering enhanced IO capabilities, product longevity, and system resiliency."

AMD today launched the EPYC Embedded 9005 line of server processors in the embedded form-factor. These are non-socketed variants of the EPYC 9005 "Turin" server processors. The chips are intended for servers and other enterprise applications where processor replacements or upgradability are not a consideration. The EPYC Embedded 9005 "Turin" are otherwise every bit similar to the regular socketed EPYC 9005 series. These chips are based on a BGA version of the "Turin" chiplet-based processor, and powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture. Besides the BGA package, the EPYC Embedded 9005 series comes with a few features relevant to its form-factor and target use-cases.

To begin with, the EPYC Embedded 9005 "Turin" series comes with NTB (non-transparent bridging), a technology that enables high-performance data transfer between two processor packages across different memory domains. NTB doesn't use Infinity Fabric or even CXL, but a regular PCI-Express 5.0 x16 connection. It isn't intended to provide cache coherence, but to absorb faults across various memory domains. Next up, the series supports DRAM flush for enhanced power-loss mitigation. Upon detecting a power loss, the processor immediately dumps memory onto NVMe storage, before the machine turns off. On restart, the BIOS copies this memory dump from the NVMe SSD back to DRAM. Thirdly, the processors in the series support dual SPI flash interfaces, which enables system architects to embed lightweight operating systems directly onto a 64 MB SPI flash ROM, besides the primary SPI flash that stores the system BIOS. This lightweight OS can act like a bootloader for operating systems in other local storage devices.

Framework has finally introduced its next-generation Framework Laptop 13, now powered by the extremely potent Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" APUs. The product is already available for pre-order on Framework's website, with prices starting from $899 for the Do-It-Yourself variant, and $1,099 for the fully assembled variant. From the outside, the design of the product has been left mostly unchanged, which may appear somewhat disappointing at first, although an unaltered design likely indicates compatibility of components between the two laptops, which is undoubtedly one of the primary selling points for the Framework Laptop.

As mentioned, the biggest upgrade that the new Framework Laptop brings to the table is the new selection of processors, with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU sitting at the highest-end. Unsurprisingly, the Strix Point APUs allow for excellent performance improvements to both CPU and GPU side of things. With 12 cores (4 Zen 5 + 8 Zen 5c) and 24 threads, the highest-end Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU performs admirably well in benchmarks as well as real-life workloads. The Radeon 890M iGPU is among the fastest available on the market, trading blows with the Arc 140T iGPU in synthetic benchmarks. Of course, the 50 TOPS NPU allows for CoPilot functionality, for those who care. The Windows variant ships with a dedicated CoPilot key as well, while the DIY variant does not.