Changwang has released an interesting looking Mobile on Desktop (MoDT) Mini-ITX motherboard in China—as spotted by HXL—for AMD Ryzen 7000 series mobile processors. The manufacturer has chosen to forego with a short plus catchy model name—Changwang's product page lays out the basic facts within the board's title. This a 170 x 170 mm compact form factor board that is NAS and storage oriented—with an AMD FP8 socket that accommodates Zen 3+ "Rembrandt" and Zen 4 "Phoenix" processors. At present, the only available options to purchase are Ryzen 7 7840HS configurations (with or without an air cooler). The specification sheet lists other processor options, including the recently launched "Hawk Point" Ryzen 7 8845HS model, as well as Ryzen 9 7940HS, Ryzen 7 7735HS (Zen 3+ Rembrandt), and Ryzen 5 7640HS.

You are limited to SODIMM (up to 5600 MT/s with the 7840HS config), due to Changwang choosing a mobile processor platform for a compact desktop motherboard that offers little in terms of upgradability. As pointed out by Tom's Hardware: "These motherboards with integrated Ryzen 7000 "Phoenix" processors might have been pretty killer a few months ago, but just days ago, AMD launched its Ryzen 8000G series APUs for the desktop, which use the same Phoenix chip that the Ryzen 7040HS chips use. Ryzen 8000G chips are a little faster, more customizable, and can be installed and upgraded like regular desktop chips, which are all significant points against Changwang's motherboard...However, when it comes to price, Changwang has the advantage. With a cost of 2888 RMB or about $400, the Ryzen 7 7840HS-equipped board looks pretty decent. A Ryzen 7 8700G retails for $329, and the cheapest AM5 Mini-ITX boards cost $130 at minimum (and come with the A620 chipset)." The Changwang board also offers an unprecedented number of interface options—its unique selling points include support for nine SATA drives, four 2.5 Gbit NICs, Thunderbolt 4, USB 4, PCIe Gen 4x4, etc.

The Ryzen 7040 Series processor in Framework Laptop 16 is capable of running at a sustained 45 W TDP (Thermal Design Power) and we put together an excellent thermal solution to ensure it can do that while keeping CPU temperature, touch temperatures, and fan noise to a minimum. That 45 watts of CPU power needs to be efficiently conducted into the vapor chamber, heatpipes, and fins to be carried away through airflow from the fans.

Since neither the CPU die nor the vapor chamber surface are perfectly flat, a thermal interface material is needed to fill in gaps to avoid comparatively insulative air taking up that space. Traditionally, most computers use a thermal grease that has thermally conductive particles suspended in silicone. This works reasonably well, but the silicone itself isn't especially thermally conductive, and the paste can pump out or dry out over time, making it less effective.

AMD today announced the new Ryzen 8040 mobile processor series codenamed "Hawk Point." These chips are shipping to notebook manufacturers now, and the first notebooks powered by these should be available to consumers in Q1-2024. At the heart of this processor is a significantly faster neural processing unit (NPU), designed to accelerate AI applications that will become relevant next year, as Microsoft prepares to launch Windows 12, and software vendors make greater use of generative AI in consumer applications.

The Ryzen 8040 "Hawk Point" processor is almost identical in design and features to the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix," except for a faster Ryzen AI NPU. While this is based on the same first-generation XDNA architecture, its NPU performance has been increased to 16 TOPS, compared to 10 TOPS of the NPU on the "Phoenix" silicon. AMD is taking a whole-of-silicon approach to AI acceleration, which includes not just the NPU, but also the "Zen 4" CPU cores that support the AVX-512 VNNI instruction set that's relevant to AI; and the iGPU based on the RDNA 3 graphics architecture, with each of its compute unit featuring two AI accelerators, components that make the SIMD cores crunch matrix math. The whole-of-silicon performance figures for "Phoenix" is 33 TOPS; while "Hawk Point" boasts of 39 TOPS. In benchmarks by AMD, "Hawk Point" is shown delivering a 40% improvement in vision models, and Llama 2, over the Ryzen 7040 "Phoenix" series.

The first reviews of Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) are live, and the results are everything we hoped for when we kicked off the product. Reviewers called out the massive jump in graphics performance, increases in battery life, and improvements in multi-core workloads. The integrated graphics capabilities are especially astounding, putting a wide range of recent game titles within reach in a thin, light, portable system. Check out some of what reviewers have to say:

"It immediately jumps to my number one recommendation for software developers looking for a small and portable laptop. But, given how insanely good this laptop is, I'd also strongly recommend those looking for a laptop for school or home or office use, to really consider this one."—JustJosh

Lenovo's newly released ultra-thin Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition laptop packs an exclusively tuned variant from AMD's 7040 "Phoenix" APU series—we are seeing a whole bunch of these mobile chipsets finally arriving inside portable computer hardware and in handheld games systems (Ryzen Z1 series), following several delays earlier in the year. AMD and Lenovo have partnered up on a special Ryzen 7 7840S eight-core APU, with a custom 30 W TDP profile—likely implemented to synergize with the Yoga Air's thin and lightweight design. Folks in the west have started to enjoy playing around with Ryzen 7 7840HS-equipped laptops, this particular APU has a 45 W TDP rating—also shared by China-market specific 7840H variants.

The MyDrivers review team has been taking Lenovo's Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition for a spin—PC Mark results suggest 10 to 11 hours of normal operation on battery, while lighter office tasking bumps that up to 14 hours. A snazzy 14.5-inch OLED screen with 10-touch support seemed to be a highlighted feature on this fancy slimline laptop. A 5% overall difference in performance (across a number of benchmark suites) was noted by the reviewer—a flagship Ryzen 9 7940HS (45 W) APU narrowly beat its less greedy 30 W sibling. The Yoga Air was judged to offer "top tier" performance that competes with a larger class of notebook (15.6-inch). The reviewer was suitably impressed by Lenovo's chassis design: "To be honest, there are very few thin and light notebooks on the market priced at 8,000 yuan (~$1095) that can surpass Yoga Air 14s 2023 Ryzen Edition in terms of appearance and craftsmanship."

We're happy to share that ordering is now available in Taiwan! That includes the in-stock Framework Laptop 13 (13th Gen Intel Core) with Traditional Chinese keyboard, pre-orders for AMD Ryzen 7040 Series and Framework Laptop 16, and the modules in the Framework Marketplace. This is an especially important launch for us because our manufacturing site for laptops, our main warehouse, and about a third of the Framework team itself are all in Taiwan. This also means that shipping is going to be ultra fast for local customers! As always, we're continuing to build out infrastructure to reach more of you across the world. We're in 13 countries now, and actively preparing for more. The best way to let us know where to go next is to register your interest on the country selection page.

Starting production on Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)
We're also excited to announce that we've started mass production of Framework Laptop 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series)! A set of electrical issues we found during validation along with late delivery of firmware from our upstream suppliers required us to delay our original production schedule. We've been sending bi-weekly status updates on this to customers in Batches 1-3 whose orders were at risk of delay. This week, we kicked off SMT (surface mount production of Mainboards) in Taiwan, which feeds into FATP (final assembly, test, and pack out of laptops) in the same factory, after which we'll transfer inventory to our warehouse and start shipments. We've doubled production capacity and moved into a new, larger logistics warehouse since the launch of 13th Gen Intel Core earlier this year, so we're confident we'll be able to move through the pre-order backlog quickly.

ASRock Industrial releases the 4X4 BOX 7040 Series Mini PCs powered by AMD Ryzen 7040U Series APUs, featuring up to 8 "Zen 4" cores and 16 threads. With the new AMD Ryzen AI, the first AI engine for an x86 platform, and support of dual-channel DDR5 5600 MHz memory up to 64 GB, the new Series sprint ahead in speed, performance, and AI capability, while guaranteeing extended runtime. The 4X4 BOX 7040 Series comes with enriched I/O connectivity in a compact appearance, enabling 4K quad-display outputs, five USB ports with two USB4, dual storage, and dual LAN up to 2.5G, Wi-Fi 6E. The faster performance with AI engine and longer runtime bring about productivity boost and next-level experience in content creation, gaming, entertainment, commerce, and many other AIoT applications.

Powered by AMD Ryzen 7040U Series APU (Ryzen 7 7840U/Ryzen 5 7640U), ASRock Industrial's 4X4 BOX 7040 Series contain selections: 4X4 BOX-7840U and 4X4 BOX-7640U. Featuring 4 nm "Zen 4" architecture with up to 8 cores and 16 threads, and enhanced dual-channel DDR5 5600 MHz SO-DIMM memory up to 64 GB, the Series guarantee faster productivity, content creation, and gaming with extended runtime. Moreover, with built-in AMD Ryzen AI - the pioneer of dedicated AI hardware in an X86 processor, the 4X4 BOX 7040 Series usher in advanced potentials in power, efficiency, and intuition for the future AI working world. This integration transforms the 4X4 BOX 7040 Series into a reliable personal virtual assistant, propelling dynamic AI applications, enhancing video conferencing, and delivering AI-inspired visuals.

Today, Lenovo unveiled the newest additions to its ThinkPad mobile workstation portfolio. Powered by the latest AMD Ryzen PRO 7040 Series Mobile processors with optional NVIDIA RTX professional graphics, the new ThinkPad P16v, P16s Gen 2 and P14s Gen 4 complement the models announced in May 2023, offering customers a broad choice in mobile workstation PC solutions. ThinkPad P Series devices deliver breakthrough performance, premium design, and durability for demanding workflows across a variety of price points and include support for Windows 11 and several flavors of Linux. Bringing advanced and power-efficient processors with AMD PRO technologies and Ryzen AI on select models opens up an enhanced world of AI-driven features for advanced collaboration on ThinkPad mobile workstations.

"Our latest workstations are designed to help our customers make a difference and drive a positive long-lasting impact in their fields, whether it's research and design, engineering and finance, media and entertainment, healthcare and education, or anything else. We are committed to delivering human-centric innovations that empower our customers to unleash their potential with ThinkPad mobile workstations," said Rob Herman, VP and GM, Worldwide Workstation and Client AI Business at Lenovo.

Acer today announced the refreshed Acer Swift Edge 16 (SFE16-43) laptop, designed for dynamic professionals requiring high computing capability, productivity, and portability from their hardware. The lightweight laptop is powered by AMD Ryzen 7040 Series processors and up to AMD Radeon 780M graphics for next-gen performance and visuals, and features AMD Ryzen AI on select models with select processors, enabling the device to keep up with today's AI demands and more.

The Swift Edge 16 showcases a stunning 16-inch 3.2K OLED display with an upgraded refresh rate of 120 Hz and support for 100% DCI-P3 color gamut to provide true-to-life colors and images. The Windows 11 laptop also boasts compatibility with up to Wi-Fi 7, Microsoft Pluton, and a range of smart features so users can stay connected to fast wireless connections and have private data secured.