Lonely City Hardware has discovered an intriguing new ASUS ROG Strix gaming laptop, equipped with a mildly mysterious AMD Ryzen 9 8940HX APU and a familiar NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile 12 GB graphics solution. Potential customers—in China—can part ways with 13999 RMB (~$1907 USD) for the pleasure of ownership. A Weibo bulletin alluded to Team Red's secretive approach with the quiet release of Ryzen 8000HX mobile chipsets. Lonely City Hardware could not find this specific SKU within official company listings/web presences.

According to VideoCardz's interpretation of events, AMD was expected to unveil "Dragon Range Refresh" processors at CES 2025—instead, fresher Ryzen 9000HX "Fire Range" options were prioritized. Going against the grain, MSI allegedly published press material that mentioned a new Ryzen 9 8945HX-powered laptop. Previous leaks have indicated that refreshed "Dragon Range" Zen 4 APUs sport slightly elevated boost frequencies. The Ryzen 9 8940HX can go up to 5.3 GHz; 100 MHz greater than its unmodified sibling; Ryzen 9 7940HX. Team Red's "Dragon Range" processors utilize older RDNA 2 integrated iGPUs, so laptop/notebook manufacturers will likely pair Ryzen 8000HX APUs with the latest-gen discrete graphics solutions.

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.

Mark Gurman—Bloomberg's resident soothsayer of Apple inside track info—has disclosed predictive outlooks for next-generation M5 chip-based MacBooks. Early last month, we experienced the launch of the Northern Californian company's M4 MacBook Air series—starting at $999; also available in a refreshing metallic blue finish. The latest iteration of Apple's signature "extra slim" notebook family arrived with decent performance figures. As per usual, press and community attention has turned to a potential successor. Gurman's (March 30) Power On newsletter posited that engineers are already working on M5-powered super slim sequels—he believes that these offerings will arrive early next year, potentially reusing the current generation's 15-inch and 13-inch fanless chassis designs.

In a mid-February predictive report, Gurman theorized that Apple was planning a major overhaul of the MacBook Pro design. A radical reimagining of the long-running notebook series—that reportedly utilizes M6 chipsets and OLED panels—is a distant prospect; perhaps later on in 2026. The Cupertino-headquartered megacorp is expected to stick with its traditional release cadence, so 2025's "M5" refresh of MacBook Pro models could trickle out by October. Insiders believe that Apple will reuse existing MacBook Pro shells—the last major redesign occurred back in 2021. According to early February reportage, mass production of the much-rumored M5 chip started at some point earlier in the year. Industry moles posit that a 3 nm (N3P) node process was on the order books, chez TSMC foundries.

Over the past weekend, GMKtec's Weibo channel announced that pre-orders for its recently unveiled EVO-X2 mini PC model will start on April 7 (through JD.com), for customers located in China. Almost two weeks ago, the manufacturer boasted about its brand-new offering being the "world's first AI mini PC" equipped with AMD's Ryzen AI "Strix Halo" Max+ 395 APU. Extra international attention was gained, due to Lisa Su's autographing of a showcased unit during proceedings at the 2025 AI PC Innovation Summit (held on March 18, in Beijing). Pricing and availability were not mentioned during this press event, but GMKtec's Saturday (March 29) bulletin has revealed a (roughly) $2067 USD price point for the EVO-X2 launch model.

The manufacturer's blog entry stated that the: "EVO-X2 AI supercomputing host is coming, 128 GB + 2 TB priced at 14999 yuan, pricing reconstructs the desktop computing power boundary! Equipped with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 flagship processor, 16-core 32-thread architecture with 5.1 GHz acceleration frequency, combined with 128 GB LPDDR5X memory and 2 TB high-speed storage, it can realize local deployment of 70 billion parameter large models, and AI performance exceeds NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 5090D graphics card." This potent compact AI-crunching solution is tempered by GMKtec's "innovative" Arctic Ocean cooling system. They advertise this design as using: "dual-turbofans and VC heat sinks to achieve silent heat dissipation at a peak power consumption of 140 W. The body adopts a recycled aluminium suspension design, equipped with HDMI, DP and USB4 interfaces, and supports Wi-Fi 6 + 2.5G network access." The brand has not yet announced an international release, but their EVO-X2 mini PC could face serious competition. Late last month, Framework debuted its Desktop product range—consisting of configurable 4.5L Mini-ITX systems—with a top-end Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (128 GB) model starting at $1999.

Successors to AMD's current-generation lineup of Ryzen 8000G desktop APUs are reportedly in the pipeline—according to the latest HXL/9550pro predictive declaration, finalized units could arrive at retail later this year. They propose that an "AMD AM5 New APU" family could arrive alongside an unannounced MSI Unify-X enthusiast-grade motherboard design, within the final quarter of 2025. Press interpretations of this inside track information point to possible upcoming "Ryzen 9000G" processors, utilizing Team Red's Zen 5 and RDNA 3.5 technologies. This potent combination already exists, albeit in mobile form—namely within Team Red's stable of Ryzen AI "Strix Halo, Strix Point," and "Krackan Point" APUs.

Industry experts opine that AMD will most likely deploy high-end "Strix Point" silicon to desktop, or more fancifully: "Gorgon Point." The latter codename turned up via leaks last week. Around early 2024, we witnessed Team Red's transfer of "Phoenix"—from original mobile formats—to their AM5 desktop platform. TechPowerUp's W1zzard evaluated the Ryzen 5 8500G "Phoenix 2" APU last summer; this plucky budget-friendly model sports Zen 4 and Zen 4c cores. Theoretically a flagship "Ryzen 9000G" SKU could emerge with twelve processor cores (4x "Zen 5" + 8x "Zen 5c"), a Radeon 890M iGPU, and an XDNA 2 NPU.

Shipping manifests have served as fairly reliable sources of pre-launch information—Everest (aka Olrak29) has discovered many juicy details in recent times. Their latest sleuthing session—combing through NBD documents—has indicated AMD's (alleged) prepping of a larger socket design for next-generation mobile processors. A leaked document alludes to the existence of various "MEDUSA01" jig and block "FP10" socket validation parts. Current-generation Ryzen AI "Strix Point" 300 series APUs utilize the FP8 socket format. Based on the "MEDUSA01" shipping manifest, it seems that a successor will arrive with a larger footprint—measurements of 25 mm x 42.5 mm are repeated throughout the leaked description list. Industry watchdogs surmise that "Medusa Point's" BGA FP10 socket will be approximately 6% larger than its predecessor.

Mid-way through last month, insider theorizations pointed to "Medusa Point" being a chiplet-based design. A "single 12-core Zen 6 CCD" was linked to a TSMC 3 nm-class node, with "N4P" reportedly selected for a separate mobile client I/O die. Readily available 4 nm Ryzen AI "Strix Point" processors are monolithic in nature. Initial inside track info mentioned RDNA 4 technology in the same equation as "Medusa Point," but recent Team Red's recent-ish targeting of "GFX1153" places RDNA 3.5 as the de facto choice.

At the tail end of 2024, AMD technical staffers added the "GFX1153" target to their first-party GPU supported chip list. Almost three months later, PC hardware news outlets and online enthusiasts have just picked up on this development. "GFX1150" family IPs were previously linked to Team Red's RDNA 3.5 architecture. This graphics technology debuted with the launch of Ryzen AI "Strix Halo," "Strix Point" and "Krackan Point" mobile processors. Recent leaks have suggested that Team Red is satisfied with the performance of RDNA 3.5-based Radeon iGPUs; warranting a rumored repeat rollout with next-gen "Medusa Point" APU designs.

Both "Medusa Point" and "Gorgon Point" mobile CPU families are expected to launch next year, with leaks pointing to the utilization of "Zen 6" and "Zen 5" processor cores (respectively) and RDNA 3.5 graphics architecture. RDNA 4 seems to be a strictly desktop-oriented generation. AMD could be reserving the "further out" UDNA tech for truly next-generation integrated graphics solutions. In the interim, Team Red's "GFX1153" IP will likely serve as "Medusa Point's" onboard GPU, according to the latest logical theories. Last year, the "GFX1152" target was associated with Ryzen AI 7 300-series "Krackan Point" APUs.

AMD's next-generation Zen 6-based "Medusa Point" mobile APUs will not feature RDNA 4 graphics as previously speculated, according to recent code discoveries in AMD GPUOpen Drivers on GitHub. The Device ID "GfxIp12" associated with RDNA 4 architecture has been reserved only for discrete GPUs, confirming that the current Radeon RX 9000 series will exclusively implement AMD's latest graphics architecture. Current technical documentation indicates AMD will instead extend RDNA 3.5 implementation beyond the Zen 5 portfolio while potentially positioning UDNA as the successor technology for integrated graphics.

The chiplet-based Medusa Point design will reportedly pair a single 12-core Zen 6 CCD manufactured on TSMC's 3 nm-class node with a mobile client I/O die likely built on N4P. This arrangement is significantly different from current monolithic mobile solutions. Earlier speculation indicates the Medusa Point platform may support 3D V-Cache variants, leveraging the same vertical stacking methodology employed in current Zen 5 implementations. The mobile processor's memory controllers and neural processing unit are expected to receive substantial updates. However, compatibility limitations with AMD's latest graphics features, like FSR 4 technology, remain a concern due to the absence of RDNA 4 silicon. The Zen 6-powered Medusa Point processor family is scheduled for release in 2026, targeting premium mobile computing applications with a performance profile that builds upon AMD's current Strix Halo positioning.

AMD's latest flagship APU, the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 "Strix Halo," demonstrates some impressive performance advantages over Intel's "Lunar Lake" processors in large language model (LLM) inference workloads, according to recent benchmarks on AMD's blog. Featuring 16 Zen 5 CPU cores, 40 RDNA 3.5 compute units, and over 50 AI TOPS via its XDNA 2 NPU, the processor achieves up to 12.2x faster response times than Intel's Core Ultra 258V in specific LLM scenarios. Notably, Intel's Lunar Lake has four E-cores and four P-cores, which in total is half of the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 CPU core count, but the performance difference is much more pronounced than the 2x core gap. The performance delta becomes even more notable with model complexity, particularly with 14-billion parameter models approaching the limit of what standard 32 GB laptops can handle.

In LM Studio benchmarks using an ASUS ROG Flow Z13 with 64 GB unified memory, the integrated Radeon 8060S GPU delivered 2.2x higher token throughput than Intel's Arc 140V across various model architectures. Time-to-first-token metrics revealed a 4x advantage in smaller models like Llama 3.2 3B Instruct, expanding to 9.1x with 7-8B parameter models such as DeepSeek R1 Distill variants. AMD's architecture particularly excels in multimodal vision tasks, where the Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 processed complex visual inputs up to 7x faster in IBM Granite Vision 3.2 3B and 6x faster in Google Gemma 3 12B compared to Intel's offering. The platform's support for AMD Variable Graphics Memory allows allocating up to 96 GB as VRAM from systems equipped with 128 GB unified memory, enabling the deployment of state-of-the-art models like Google Gemma 3 27B Vision. The processor's performance advantages extend to practical AI applications, including medical image analysis and coding assistance via higher-precision 6-bit quantization in the DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 32B model.

We dedicated a lot of our launch presentation of Framework Desktop to the Ryzen AI Max processor it uses, and for a good reason. These truly unique, ultra-high-performance parts are the culmination of decades of technology and architecture investments that AMD has made, going all the way back to their acquisition of ATI in 2006. For our first technical deep dive on Framework Desktop, we're going to go even deeper into Ryzen AI Max and what makes it a killer processor for gaming, workstation, and AI workloads.

What makes Ryzen AI Max special is a combination of three elements: full desktop-class Zen 5 CPU cores, a massive 40-CU Radeon RDNA 3.5 GPU, and a giant 256-bit LPDDR5x memory bus to feed the two, supporting up to 128 GB of memory. Chips and Cheese did an excellent technical overview of the processor with AMD that goes even deeper on this, and we'll pull out some of the highlights along with our own insights. We'll start with the CPUs. Ryzen AI Max supports up to 16 CPU cores split across two 4 nm FinFET dies that AMD calls CCDs. These dies are connected together using an extremely wide, low power, low latency bus across the package substrate. The CPUs are full Zen 5 cores with 512-bit FPUs and support for AVX-512, a vector processing instruction set otherwise only available on Intel's top end server CPUs. We're excited for you to see the multicore performance numbers these CPUs can do in our upcoming press review cycle!

The oft-rumored status of Intel's refreshed generation of Arrow Lake processors (ARL-R) was the topic of much debate in 2023. By September 2024, certain industry watchdogs believed that the endeavor had ended. Early last month, Golden Pig Upgrade proposed that Team Blue leadership had resurrected the troubled project—at least with "ARL-S Refresh" desktop CPUs. Earlier today, the noted leaker of inside information returned to the topic of Arrow Lake Refresh. According to industry moles, the launch of refreshed desktop processors (on LGA 1851) is confirmed.

An extended timeline was disclosed in Golden Pig Upgrade's latest musing: "Arrow Lake HX Refresh is confirmed to return. Don't criticize the interface for only one generation. AI PCs are getting bigger and stronger." Given that ARL-HX-equipped high-end notebooks and mini PCs—with Core Ultra 7 200 series APUs—are relatively new arrivals, a mild update later on in the year could be considered pointless. Intel has committed themselves to a launch of Panther Lake mobile processors (PTL-H) in the second half of 2025. As disclosed by past leaks, the "beefing up" of onboard NPUs—to Lunar Lake-esque standards—is a reported goal; at least with Arrow Lake-S.

Mini PCs have steadily increased in popularity in recent years, primarily thanks to the performance and efficiency improvements brought to the table by APUs from Intel and AMD. There is no shortage of such systems with commendable computing horsepower, but there also exists a certain segment which prioritizes compactness over anything else. The Topton M1 undoubtedly belongs to that category, boasting a chassis that is 7.8 x 7.8 x 5.5 cm in dimensions.

As can be expected from a system as diminutive as the M1 mini PC, the internal specifications are nothing to write home about. At its core, a Ryzen 3 5425U APU powers the system, paired with up to 32 GB of soldered LPDDR4X memory. The "Cezanne" APU is based on the Zen 3 microarchitecture, packing four cores and eight threads. The 15-watt APU boasts similar CPU performance to the Core Ultra 5 134U, which should allow it to chew through most non-intensive workloads. Needless to say, support for discrete graphics is absent, and the integrated 6-core Vega iGPU should suffice for video playback and extremely lightweight tasks.

There is no shortage of folks who have modest performance expectations from their systems, but require a large display for entertainment and creativity purposes. ASUS has introduced a massive new laptop seemingly intended for such people, dubbed the Vivobook 18. As the name suggests, the laptop sports a large 18.3-inch display with an aspect ratio of 16:10. As we shall find out later, the product is affordably priced, which justifies the 1080p IPS display. At its size, a higher-resolution panel would've certainly been a welcome addition. Thankfully, however, the display boasts a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which should allow for an excellent motion experience. The display is also claimed to cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut, which is pretty neat.

At its heart, the Vivobook 18 is powered by the Ryzen 7 260 APU with 8 Zen 4 cores and 16 threads paired with up to 32 GB of DDR5 memory. The APU is no slouch, and packs enough grunt to trade blows with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU. There is no option for discrete graphics, which means that any graphically demanding task will have to solely rely on the integrated Radeon 780M iGPU. For non-intensive workloads and casual lightweight gaming, the RDNA 3-based Radeon 780M should easily suffice. An M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 x 4 slot takes care of storage requirements, with 512 GB as standard. The memory is also upgradeable, courtesy of the single unpopulated SODIMM slot.

The "Medusa" or "Medusa Point" codename started to appear online over the past couple of months. These mysterious AMD projects were linked to next-generation "Zen 6" Ryzen desktop and mobile processor families (respectively). Initially, insiders reckoned that Team Red had selected an RDNA 4-based graphics solution for integration their futuristic new-gen laptop APU design. Two days ago, Golden Pig Upgrade weighed in with a different theory—the veteran leaker believes that provisions have regressed on the "Medusa Point" iGPU front.

Previous reports have suggested that the "Medusa Point" processor's iGPU aspect will utilize up to 16 compute units (CU), based on a theorized count of eight workgroup processors (WGPs) from leaked imagery. The latest insider tip points to the utilization of a non-specific "RDNA 3.x" branch, instead of conjectured RDNA 4 graphics technology. Industry watchdogs hold the belief that AMD will be sticking with RDNA 3.5 for a while—as featured on their current-gen "Zen 5" mobile-oriented Strix Point, Strix Halo and Krackan Point chips. As pointed out by Notebookcheck, Team Red leadership disclosed that RDNA 4 is exclusive to discrete card families (for the time being). RDNA 3.5-equipped APUs have—so far—received a warm welcome; AMD engineers could be reserving development resources for a distant future project.

AMD is launching new Socket AM4 processor SKUs well into 2025, eight years into the platform's lifecycle. The company just launched six new processor models under the Ryzen 5005G series. These span the Ryzen 7, Ryzen 5, and Ryzen 3 tiers, and are all desktop APUs based on the 7 nm "Cezanne" monolithic silicon that combines up to 8 "Zen 3" CPU cores with an iGPU based on the "Vega" graphics architecture, featuring up to 8 compute units (CU). There's nothing [much] to report about the 5005G series, except that they are iGPU speed bumps of existing SKUs. These are not meant to be confused with the 5000GT series, which were CPU speed-bumps of the chips AMD launched in 2024.

Among the six new SKUs, the top-spec part is the Ryzen 7 5705G, which maxes out the silicon, enabling the full 8-core/16-thread "Zen 3" CPU with 512 KB of L2 cache per core and 16 MB of shared L3 cache; and the iGPU with all 8 CUs. This chip comes with CPU clock speeds of 3.80 GHz base with 4.60 GHz boost, with 2.20 GHz max engine clock for the iGPU. The CPU clock speeds are unchanged compared to the Ryzen 7 5700G, but the iGPU gets a 10% increase in max engine clock. The Ryzen 7 5705GE is an energy efficient variant with 3.20 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost for the CPU to achieve a 35 W TDP, but the iGPU engine clock gets the same 200 MHz speed bump.

In today's fast-paced office environment, efficiency and productivity are key. Shuttle's latest innovation, the XPC nano Barebone NA10H7, is a compact yet powerful AI-PC that enhances everyday office operations with intelligent computing and seamless multitasking.

Smart Performance in a Compact Form
Measuring just 1 liter in volume, the NA10H7 is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7-8845HS APU with Zen 4 microarchitecture. With 8 cores, 16 threads, and integrated AMD Radeon 780M graphics, this AI-enhanced system accelerates workloads and optimizes daily office tasks. Additionally, it features an integrated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that delivers 16 TOPS AI performance, contributing to a total AI acceleration of 39 TOPS (NPU+CPU+GPU combined). This makes the NA10H7 particularly adept at handling AI-driven workloads such as intelligent automation and predictive analytics.

Navigating AMD's various modern processor model naming schemes is tricky business, and another layer of complexity has been added this week; with newly revealed "Strix Point" and "Krackan Point" CPUs. Three previously unannounced SKUs have appeared on AMD's Chinese website: Ryzen AI 9 H 365, Ryzen AI 7 H 350, and Ryzen AI 5 H 340. At first glance, these models codes seem to be familiar—after a double take, we see a small difference in nomenclature. The addition of a middle-placed/detached "H" has press outlets and hardware enthusiasts scratching their collective heads. After discovering Team Red's Ryzen AI 9 H 365 APU listing, Lonely City Hardware posted a humorous observation on social media: "for the Chinese market. No one can remember the full name."

Frustratingly, Western search engines (at the time of writing) just point you to the non-H equivalents. The "H" designation denotes Chinese market exclusivity; TechPowerUp has covered previous-generation examples in the recent past. When comparing technical details and specification sheets to Western equivalents, VideoCardz noted that there were no apparent differences—platform and packaging are the same (FP8). A cross-reference—of clock speeds, thermal ratings, and core architecture (Zen 5/Zen 5C)—points to spec parity across East and West variants.

Chuwi is a pretty decent brand of competent mini PCs which have received positive reviews. The brand's latest offering, the AuBox mini PC, combines a powerful AMD APU with an attractive design that is not only commendably compact, but also quite premium looking. The product measures 15 x 15 cm with a height of only 4.5 cm that gives it a genuinely sleek appeal, unlike other mini PCs available on the market which are going for a somewhat tall form factor ever since the M4 Mac Mini has hit the scene. At its core, the AuBox is powered by the Ryzen 7 8745HS APU with eight Zen 4 cores and sixteen threads. Apart from not having an NPU, the 8745HS is basically a slightly down clocked version of the Ryzen 7 8845HS that results in a 6-7% performance drop in synthetic benchmarks.

That said, the APU is plenty performant for the vast majority of workloads that are likely to be thrown its way, provided that they are not overly demanding GPU-wise, since the compact AuBox mini PC lacks discrete graphics, which is hardly out of the ordinary for mini PCs. The integrated RDNA 3-based Radeon 780M iGPU with 12 CUs is perfectly potent for lightweight tasks, however, and entry-level gaming with modest settings should not be much of a hassle either. The AuBox ships with 12 GB of DDR5-5600 memory, which can be upgraded to a healthy 64 GB down the road courtesy of user-accessible SODIMM slots.

AMD's "Strix Halo" APU, marketed as Ryzen AI Max+, has just been exposed in die-shot analysis. Confirming the processor's triple-die architecture, the package showcases a total silicon footprint of 441.72 mm² that integrates advanced CPU, GPU, and AI acceleration capabilities within a single package. The processor's architecture centers on two 67.07 mm² CPU CCDs, each housing eight Zen 5 cores with a dedicated 8 MB L2 cache. A substantial 307.58 mm² I/O complements these die that houses an RDNA 3.5-based integrated GPU featuring 40 CUs and AMD's XDNA 2 NPU. The memory subsystem demonstrates a 256-bit LPDDR5X interface capable of delivering 256 GB/s bandwidth, supported by 32 MB of strategically placed Last Level Cache to optimize data throughput.

The die shots reveal notable optimizations for mobile deployment, including shortened die-to-die interfaces that reduce the interconnect distance by 2 mm compared to desktop implementations. Some through-silicon via structures are present, which suggest potential compatibility with AMD's 3D V-Cache technology, though the company has not officially confirmed plans for such implementations. The I/O die integrates comprehensive connectivity options, including PCIe 4.0 x16 lanes and USB4 support, while also housing dedicated media engines with full AV1 codec support. Initial deployments of the Strix Halo APU will commence with the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 launch on February 25, marking the beginning of what AMD anticipates will be broad adoption across premium mobile computing platforms.

Well, the wait is over and early reviews for AMD's Strix Halo APUs have finally dropped. For those who kept up with the leaks and rumors, the high-end RDNA 3.5 Radeon 8060S iGPU was repeatedly rumored to features up to 40 CUs, allowing for raw performance that keeps up with several discrete-class mobile GPUs. Now that we have concrete information, it appears that the Strix Halo iGPU does indeed trade blows with mid-range mobile GPUs, which is an undeniably impressive feat for an integrated unit. Some of the fastest x86 iGPUs - the Arc 140 V, Radeon 890M, are all left in the dust, although Apple's highest-end offerings are unsurprisingly well ahead.

Starting off with 3D Mark Time Spy, the 40-CU Radeon 8060S, housed in the 13-inch ROG Flow Z13, managed an impressive score of 10,200 points according to Notebookcheck. This puts the iGPU in close proximity to other RTX 4070-powered 14-inch gaming laptops, such as the Zephyrus G14 which managed to rake in around 10,300 points. Compared to the previous iteration of the ROG Flow Z13, which boasts a 65-watt RTX 4070, the Radeon 8060S-powered Z13 pulls ahead by around 5%. Laptops with more substantial power envelopes do race ahead significantly, such as the 140-watt RTX 4070 Laptop-powered Razer Blade 14 which managed over 13,000 points. In the Steel Nomad benchmark, however, the Radeon 8060S appears less impressive, trailing behind not only the RTX 4070 Laptop, but also systems with the RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (110 W).

Yesterday, the ASUS Chinese office announced a special event—on February 25—dedicated to launching a next-gen AMD APU-powered premium notebook model: "ROG Magic X (or Illusion X) is the first to be equipped with the Ryzen AI MAX+ three-in-one chip, which can efficiently coordinate multiple modes, provide combat power and computing power on demand, and can handle e-sports, creation and AI with one chip!" The manufacturer's Weibo post has generated plenty of buzz; industry insiders reckon that reviews could be published today (February 18)—HXL/9550pro informed VideoCardz with a not so cryptic message: "STX-Halo NDA: Feb 18th 2025."

Western press outlets point out that the ROG Magic X is a local variant of the familiar ROG Flow Z13 design; a 2025 refresh brings in AMD's much anticipated "Strix Halo" APU design. Team Red-authored marketing material and pre-release evaluation leaks have hinted about impressive integrated graphics solution performance; equalling or even exceeding that of previous-gen dGPUs. Well-known North American hardware review outlets have dropped hints (NDA permitting) about AMD's Ryzen Al Max+ 395 and Max 390 processors. Hardware Canucks could barely contain their excitement regarding the potent Zen 4 and RDNA 3.5 combo package; to the point of wish listing a potential direct successor: "Strix Halo is one of the most exciting things launched into the PC space in the last half decade. Full stop...AMD can't keep this as a one-off. If it's followed up with Zen 6 and RDNA 4 next year...watch out." Naturally, Team Red's cutting-edge mobile CPU technology is arriving in devices with high asking prices. The aforementioned ROG Flow Z13 2025 model—configured with top specs—is priced at $2699. Notebookcheck reckons that ASUS has tacked on an extra $500, since an announcement of initial pricing at CES 2025.

In an exclusive report, Laptop Mag has extracted intriguing disclosures from Intel's Robert Hallock. The company's VP and General Manager of Client AI and Technical Marketing was happy to announce that new-generation processors are lined up for inclusion within next waves of handheld gaming PCs. Industry rumors posited that things would end with Team Blue's Core Ultra "Lunar Lake" generation of APUs; as featured on the recently deployed MSI Claw 8 AI+ and Claw 7 AI+ models. First-generation devices with "Meteor Lake" chips did not disrupt the market, and struggled to keep up with AMD Ryzen Z1 chipset-based rivals. Despite negative conjecture suggesting a withdrawal, Hallock revealed that a certain department is growing in size: "Intel is beefing up its staff to support gaming ISVs who want to do handhelds."

Team Blue's fortified support network is touted to expand the market reach of portable gaming PCs; the Intel executive elaborated on this topic: "we're starting a number of internal programs to give them more assistance in targeting this performance profile because—relative to what they're accustomed to—(handhelds) are still relatively rare in terms of availability." Hallock and colleagues are diving in with a new strategy; game development studios are on the receiving end of pre-release hardware: "a lot of game devs tend to just target what they have on their desks or in their QA labs...so (we're) arming them with more handhelds as prototype devices. Getting them dev kits leading into Panther Lake."

Late last month, an AMD "How to Sell" Ryzen AI MAX series guide appeared online—contents provided an early preview of the Radeon 8060S iGPU's prowess in 1080p gaming environments. Team Red seemed to have some swagger in their step; they claimed that their forthcoming "RDNA 3.5" integrated graphics solution was up to 68% faster than NVIDIA's discrete GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile GPU (subjected to thermal limits). Naturally, first-party/internal documentation should be treated with a degree of skepticism—the PC hardware community often relies on (truly) independent sources to form opinions. A Chinese leaker has procured a pre-release laptop that features a "Zen 5" AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. By Wednesday evening, the tester presented benchmark results on the Tieba Baidu forums.

The leaker uploaded a screenshot from a 3DMark Time Spy session. No further insights were shared via written text. On-screen diagnostics pointed to a "Radeon 8050S" GPU, and the CPU being an "AMD Eng Sample: 100-000001243-50_Y." Wccftech double-checked this information; they believe that the OPN ID corresponds to a: "Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 with the Radeon 8060S, instead of the AMD Radeon 8050S iGPU...The difference between the two is that the Radeon 8060S packs the full 40 Compute Units while the Radeon 8050S is configured with 32 Compute Units. The CPU for each iGPU is also different and the one tested here packs 16 Zen 5 cores instead of the 12 Zen 5 cores featured on the Ryzen AI MAX 390." According to the NDA-busting screenshot, Team Red's Ryzen AI MAX+ 395 engineering sample racked up an overall score of 9006 in 3DMark Time Spy. Its graphics score tally came in at 10,106, while its CPU scored 5571 points. The alleged Radeon 8060S iGPU managed to pull in just under NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile dGPU (average) score of 10,614. The plucky RDNA 3.5 40 CU iGPU seems to outperform a somewhat related sibling; the Radeon RX 7600M XT dGPU (with 32 RDNA 3 CUs) scored 8742 points. Radeon 8060S trails the desktop Radeon RX 7600 GPU by 884 points.

AI PC capabilities have evolved rapidly in the two years since AMD introduced the first x86 AI PC CPUs at CES 2023. New neural processing units have debuted, pushing available performance from a peak of 10 AI TOPS at the launch of the AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor to peak 50+ TOPS on the latest AMD Ryzen AI Max PRO 300 Series processors. A wide range of software and hardware companies have announced various AI development plans or brought AI-infused products to market, while major operating system vendors like Microsoft are actively working to integrate AI into the operating system via its Copilot+ PC capabilities. AMD is on the forefront of those efforts and is working closely with Microsoft to deliver Copilot+ for Ryzen AI and Ryzen AI PRO PCs.

In the report "The Year of the AI PC is 2025," Forrester lays out its argument for why this year is likely to bring significant changes for AI PCs. Forrester defines the term "AI PC" to mean any system "embedded with an AI chip and algorithms specifically designed to improve the experience of AI workloads across the computer processing unit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), and neural processing unit (NPU)." This includes AMD products, as well as competing products made by both x86 and non-x86 CPU manufacturers. 2025 represents a turning point for these efforts, both in terms of hardware and software, and this Forrester report is an excellent deep dive into why AI PCs represent the future for enterprise computing.

The list of potent mini PCs continues to expand, with the Minix NGC-NR6600 being one of the latest additions. The mid-range mini PC should be sufficiently potent for the majority of non-intensive workloads, and should be able to fly through daily workloads without breaking a sweat. The system is already available for purchase on Amazon, starting at $399 for the entry-level variant with 16 GB of memory and a 512 GB SSD. Specs-wise, the Minix mini PC appears to be a well-equipped system that should suffice for most moderately intensive workloads, as long as it is forgiving on the GPU side.

At its core, the Minix mini PC in question is powered by the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H APU with 6 Zen 3+ cores and 12 threads, which can be paired with up to 64 GB of DDR5-4800 memory, courtesy of dual SO-DIMM slots. The diminutive 5 x 5.12 x 1.97 inch chassis, unsurprisingly, lacks the physical space for the comfort of discrete graphics, and has to settle for the decently capable Radeon 660M with 6 CUs, although it is by no means sufficient for modern AAA gaming. Some lightweight gaming is not our of the question, though. A 512 GB SSD takes care of storage requirements, while a supplementary M.2 slot allows for expansion down the road, up to a whopping 8 TB. The system packs HDMI 2.1 (TMDS, so basically HDMI 2.0), DisplayPort 1.4, USB4, as well as dual 2.5G LAN ports.