Our first probability to check AMD’s newest Zen 5 CPU structure would not come within the type of a desktop chip. Quite a gaming laptop computer operating a brand new AMD Ryzen AI 300-series processor—stuffed to the brim with new goodies.
My testing is carried out on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16, fitted with the brand new AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. This is without doubt one of the prime chips out of the purple workforce with 12 cores and 24 threads. It additionally comes with an built-in GPU with 16 Compute Items (CUs) of the brand new and improved RDNA 3.5 graphics structure. So as to add to its already prolonged checklist of additives, this chip additionally homes an XDNA 2 powered AI processor, generally known as an NPU. Therefore the clumsy addition of ‘AI’ to the identify.
That is plenty of new stuff stuffed inside one singular slab of silicon—in contrast to Intel, AMD’s newest chips are nonetheless monolithic. It is much more spectacular what AMD has stuffed on this chip contemplating a ‘default’ TDP of 25 W and a max TDP of 54 W. The chip I am testing given the total 54 W tether to play with.
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 specs
What’s in it?
Codename: Strix Level
Cores: 12 (4x Zen 5, 8x Zen 5c)
Base clock: 2 GHz
Increase clock: As much as 5.1 GHz
L2 cache: 12 MB
L3 cache: 24 MB
Course of node: TSMC 4nm
Configurable TDP vary: 15 – 54 W (54 W examined)
iGPU: Radeon 890M
iGPU structure: RDNA 3.5
Compute Items: 16 (1,024 cores)
iGPU clock: 2,900 MHz
NPU: Sure, 50 TOPS
A number of the cores inside the HX 370 usually are not just like the others. AMD is choosing a combination between Zen 5 and Zen 5c for its cellular lineup—what’s generally known as a heterogeneous structure. You could be conversant in the idea already because it’s what Intel has been doing with its cellular and desktop chips. Besides whereas Intel’s P-cores and E-cores are very totally different, AMD’s Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores are awfully alike.
There are 4 Zen 5 and eight Zen 5c cores within the HX 370, divided into two CCXs. One CCX with the 4 Zen 5 cores, and the opposite with eight Zen 5c cores. The ‘compact’ Zen 5c cores take up much less room than full-fat Zen 5 cores, therefore why AMD can stuff extra of them right into a single CCX than ordinary.
This compact design has a number of advantages: not solely can AMD stuff extra cores onto a given die space, however these cores additionally devour much less energy than the full-size variations. Nothing comes at no cost in silicon land, nevertheless. To attain these positive factors the Zen 5c cores have entry to a a lot smaller shared L3 cache than the Zen 5 cores.
For the 24 MB of L3 cache shared between all 12 cores on the HX 370, solely 8 MB is accessible by the eight Zen 5c cores. In a manner that comes down to simply 1 MB per core, however since it may be divvied out between any cores as required it will not essentially work out that manner.Â
The Zen 5 cores get to gobble up the remaining 16 MB between simply 4 cores.
In any other case, the Zen 5c cores are fairly much like their bigger siblings. That is a savvy transfer on AMD’s half, as will turn into clear as soon as we transfer onto the benchmarks. These Zen 5c cores contribute to super multithreaded efficiency in a comparatively low-power cellular chip with out hindering efficiency in additional single-threaded duties, similar to gaming.
Earlier than that, let’s speak concerning the different new additions to this Ryzen AI chip. First, and most abundantly apparent, the ‘AI’ bit.Â
The HX 370 comes with an NPU powered by the XDNA 2 structure. You would possibly keep in mind all of the fuss AMD made about it at Computex this 12 months, when it turned obvious that AMD’s NPU was greater than Intel and Qualcomm’s at 50 TOPS. What are these TOPS good for? Accelerating synthetic intelligence on-chip, i.e. native AI processing.
Admittedly the carousel of purposes that use on-chip AI acceleration is restricted, and never all of these particularly utilise the NPU, if out there. It is early doorways for this kind of accelerator on-chip. You may push Photoshop to do it, and you may run some generative AI, although more often than not these types of AI software program run all of the heavy-duty stuff up within the cloud.Â
For gaming, a minimum of, there is not any instant profit to an NPU on the die. That mentioned, when a killer app does arrive requiring native AI compute, you would possibly be glad it is there. Then once more there’s additionally a mega AI accelerator constructed into most gaming machines, known as a GPU.
The Zephyrus G16 has two GPUs. There’s the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 cellular coming as a separate chip and the Radeon 890M included with the HX 370. We have seen loads of RTX 4070 laptops, in order that’s not crucial proper now. What’s extra thrilling is the Radeon 890M.
The 890M is utilizing a model new graphics structure—possibly that is overselling it slightly—a renewed graphics structure. It is known as RDNA 3.5 and it is principally outlined by a concentrate on enhancing cellular graphics efficiency. That is excellent news for the Zephyrus G16 and our hopes of genuinely spectacular 1080p efficiency on a low-power chip or handheld gaming PC.
The 890M inside the HX 370 is provided with 16 CUs operating at as much as 2,900 MHz. That is a step-up over the very talked-about Radeon 780M, which comes with 12 CUs at 2,700 MHz. AMD offered additional particulars about RDNA 3.5 at a latest occasion, and it successfully boils all the way down to optimisations for low-power, low-shader operation, i.e. to be used inside an built-in GPU, not a discrete one.
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 efficiency
AMD advised us to count on huge uplifts in efficiency with Strix Level versus its newest competitors to this point, Intel’s Meteor Lake. Particularly, the corporate pointed to huge positive factors between the HX 370 and the Core Extremely 9 185H, an Intel chip with extra cores (16 > 12) however fewer threads (22 < 24).Â
AMD claims numerous productiveness and inventive software boons with its newest chips, similar to in 3D modelling software Blender, which was touted beforehand to run as much as 74% quicker on the HX 370. Or Cinebench R24, claimed to be as much as 47% faster.
I can report from my very own testing of those two chips—inside the similar total mannequin of laptop computer, the truth is, the Zephyrus G16 (2024)—the HX 370 attracts a assured lead over the Extremely 185H in a handful of checks.
In Cinebench R23, the HX 370 is 25% quicker than the Extremely 185H when wielding solely a single thread. That lends weight to AMD’s claims of as much as 16% improved IPC by means of these Zen 5 cores. The excellent news for AMD is that the HX 370 can be 25% quicker in multithreaded checks, which is spectacular contemplating the less bodily cores on the Ryzen processor.Â
It is price noting that each one of AMD’s cores are able to simultaneous multithreading (SMT) and due to this fact has 24 threads to play with. That is two greater than the Extremely 185H. Solely the P-cores are able to Hyper-Threading (Intel’s model of SMT) on the Extremely 185H and thus it solely has 22 at its disposal. Intel has extra bodily cores, certain, however fewer threads. Although I would say for evaluating two heterogenous processors, the HX 370 and Extremely 185H are about as shut as we’ll get to comparable chips—a minimum of till Lunar Lake arrives.
In 3DMark’s Time Spy Excessive benchmark, taking solely the CPU rating, the HX 370 is 15% faster.Â
I am unable to make any direct comparisons on graphics efficiency as we have solely totally different GPUs in every laptop computer—an RTX 4070 in a single, RTX 4090 within the different; a better TDP on one, decrease TDP on the opposite—it would not be a good comparability. I can’t get the Blender benchmark scores, both. The damned factor will not run till AMD’s chips are supported within the software, which occurs with some pre-release {hardware}, and means I am unable to check that lofty declare from the purple workforce. With time we’ll understand how that shakes out.
AMD can declare one other victory within the X264 benchmark. It is a measure of a CPU’s means to encode a 1080p video, 4 instances over back-to-back, and is a multithreading-friendly benchmark. Unsurprisingly, with Strix Level’s earlier lead in multithreading, the HX 370 is ready to declare a 13% enchancment over the Extremely 185H.
The max energy draw I measured this CPU operating at whereas gaming was 54 W. Now evaluate that to a different related performing chip in testing, the Core i9 14900HX. This Intel chip is a a lot larger wattage CPU, which implies we’re seeing a lot decrease energy calls for for related efficiency with AMD’s newest. The good thing about that’s you may stuff a chip like this right into a thinner, lighter laptop computer and nonetheless declare prime efficiency—as per this Zephyrus mannequin.
I usually noticed decrease CPU temperatures on the HX 370 than on the Extremely 185H inside the similar laptop computer design, which bodes effectively for any kind of gaming handheld constructed round one in all AMD’s newest chips.
AMD Radeon 890M efficiency
From the ROG Ally X to the Legion Go, most of the finest handheld gaming PCs are constructed round a single iGPU: the Radeon 780M. Included with the favored Ryzen 7 7840U, and its follow-up, the Ryzen 7 8840U, this RDNA 3 iGPU was additionally included inside the semi-custom Ryzen Z1 Excessive inside the ROG Ally, ROG Ally X, and Lenovo Legion Go. It additionally made its manner into heaps of gaming laptops, largely as a low-power various to a beefy Nvidia GPU.
The Radeon 890M is the primary main improve on that design out of AMD. It is greater, with 16 CUs to the 780M’s 12, and options an improved RDNA 3.5 structure—particularly designed to enhance cellular graphics efficiency. That is 1,024 shader cores to 768—a 33% enhance—and it ought to come as no shock that this interprets to a lot improved efficiency versus the 780M.
The 890M’s elevated shader depend is nearly completely mapped to the efficiency in F1 22. I recorded a 31% enhance in common fps versus the 890M.
In Hitman’s Dubai benchmark, it is 38% quicker. I additionally noticed a big uplift in 1% low body charges, which was constant throughout a number of runs, however Hitman could be a little inconsistent on the subject of this metric.
In Horizon Zero Daybreak these GPUs are squished nearer collectively. The 890M nonetheless leads the way in which by 20% margin, but it surely’s not fairly consultant of the efficiency uplift one would count on from 33% extra cores.
The 890M will not be solely an even bigger GPU, it comes with a design tailor-made to this kind of cellular workloads in RDNA 3.5. Our check chip, inside the Zephyrus G16, additionally has extra energy funds to work with than these present in well-liked handheld gaming PCs. That ought to all make for a commanding lead, although clearly not each sport is ready to take full benefit. It might show that in a extra compact design, the 890M’s lead will likely be decreased additional.
Nonetheless, it would be incorrect to chastise this iGPU too harshly when it does supply a giant uplift in cellular efficiency over its predecessor. These are appreciable enhancements to gaming efficiency, which, if replicated inside a gaming handheld, ought to make for a way more constant gaming expertise on-the-go.
Whereas we feature out most of our checks at largely the best graphical presets, crank down the standard a contact and you may count on constant and regular efficiency at 1080p from the 890M.
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 evaluation
Would I be pleased with a Ryzen AI processor inside my subsequent gaming laptop computer? My reply is a powerful sure. The processing energy on supply in a monolithic cellular processor is a marked enchancment on what got here earlier than. Not for its new ‘AI’ nomenclature or NPU, which I’ve discovered powerful to utilize in follow, however the enhancements to the CPU and GPU parts that PC avid gamers really depend on.
This Zen 5/Zen 5c hybrid leaps forward of AMD’s earlier era and makes straightforward work of the Extremely 185H inside the similar Zephyrus chassis. This mixture of cache-laden and cache-limited cores delivers each multithreaded and single-threaded efficiency to rival a few of the most power-hungry laptop computer chips, whereas preserving energy calls for fairly low. This bodes effectively for the Ryzen 9000-series, which we’ll have to attend slightly longer to get our palms on.
The concern that the addition of a brand new AI accelerator nixing any potential upgrades to the GPU element have been quashed, because of the 4 further cores and improved RDNA 3.5 structure on the HX 370. Clearly the upper core counts do wonders for gaming, even when the RDNA 3.5 architectural advantages are more durable to quantify with a handful of benchmarks.Â
The 890M is most enjoyable within the context of gaming handhelds: even the smallest enchancment between the 890M and the 780M amounted to a 20% enchancment in body charges. That’s not to be sniffed at, and was on the decrease finish of the positive factors I skilled in testing. A rise in body charges of roughly a 3rd can be on the playing cards.Â
Furthermore, this kind of GPU enchancment ought to be convincing to many handheld PC producers, a lot of whom are possible deciding when is the very best time to launch a brand new and improved mannequin. We have had the kind of mid-generation upgrades within the Steam Deck OLED and ROG Ally X, although a real successor to both will likely be requiring extra firepower at its disposal. Offering the 890M nonetheless delivers when confined to a smaller type issue, I consider it might be highly effective sufficient to warrant a brand new wave of handhelds.
Although I am but to be satisfied by AMD’s new NPU—particularly its utility to a mean consumer. Even much less so from a PC gamer’s perspective. One of many few remotely helpful purposes making the most of it’s tangential to PC gaming at finest. That is Amuse picture era, which is successfully Steady Diffusion operating domestically in your machine. It could be neat to run picture era domestically on my laptop computer a minimum of as soon as, although I bumped into a number of errors that prevented me from doing so. Points apart, this simply would not really feel like a killer app for native AI, and the NPU would not really feel to me like essential simply but.
Although I am not torn up about it simply but. Whether or not you class the NPU as good to have or virtually pointless, it is included on an in any other case wonderful gaming processor.
I ought to spend a second to reward the Zephyrus G16, too. It is a prime specimen—I can see why Andy rated it so extremely in his Zephyrus G16 2024 evaluation. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and RTX 4070 combo gives efficiency at a frenetic tempo, and pairs extraordinarily effectively with the glossy chassis from Asus. If I had it my manner, I would maintain this laptop computer as my every day driver.
It is not a 16-inch laptop computer I am hoping to get my palms on, although. It is a handheld gaming PC with the total complement of Ryzen AI 300-series options and power-savvy efficiency that does not drop the ball on body charges. It will come, I am certain of it.Â
First issues first, we have to see what Zen 5 can do with fewer energy restrictions within the Ryzen 9000-series. These chips are coming in simply a few weeks, so keep tuned.