The high-end Ryzen AI Max features up to 40 RDNA 3.5 architecture CUs, 16 Zen 5 architecture CPU cores, and 32 threads, with graphics performance more than 1.4 times that of the Intel Core i9 288V processor and rendering performance 84% faster than the 12-core Apple MacBook M4 Pro. AMD has also launched the best CPU for gamers and creators, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, which also has 16 Zen 5 cores and is 20% faster in gaming than Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K.
The annual Technology community gala — the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, USA, $Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.US)$ brings multiple new Ryzen chip products to the stage, including the previously rumored high-end accelerated processor (APU) codenamed Strix Halo and the new generation flagship Fire Range series.
Among them, the most eye-catching are the Ryzen AI Max and AI Max+ laptop chips, claimed to be AMD's most powerful AI chips to date. They feature up to 40 compute units (CUs) based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, with 16 Zen 5 CPU cores and 32 threads, along with a new memory interface providing a bandwidth of 256GB per second, supporting up to 128GB of memory to be shared among the CPU, GPU, and XDNA 2 NPU AI engine.
The Strix Halo chip targets gaming enthusiasts and the workstation market. AMD provided comparative synthetic 3D benchmark results but did not share real gaming benchmark situations.
AMD claims that the graphics performance of the high-end Ryzen AI Max +395 chip exceeds Intel's top-tier Lunar Lake Core i9 288V processor by more than 1.4 times, and its 3D rendering performance is 2.6 times that of the latter, while the rendering performance of the 16-core Ryzen AI Max flagship product is 84% faster than that of the 12-core Apple MacBook M4 Pro.
In terms of AI workloads, the performance of the aforementioned high-end Ryzen AI Max + chip is better than that of a standalone desktop.$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$The RTX 4090 GPU improves up to 2.2 times while the thermal design power (TDP) has been reduced by 87%.
Rahul Tikoo, General Manager of AMD's Client Computing Business, stated that the Ryzen AI Max adds a new category of PCs to AMD's next-gen AI platform in the market. It is a highly powerful chip that delivers incredible performance, transforming the user experience from workstations to lightweight laptops and compact yet powerful mini-desktops.
The AI Max series will debut in the first half of this year, appearing in the upcoming Copilot+ PCs, such as the HP ZBook Ultra G1A mobile workstation, HP Z2 Mini G1a mini desktop workstation, and ASUS ROG Flow Z13 gaming 2-in-1 laptop.
The image below shows AMD's plan to launch the Ryzen AI Max and AI Max Pro series chips and related configuration parameters in the first and second quarters of 2025.
Best gaming and creator CPU: Ryzen 9 9950X3D.
AMD also announced the new HX and X3D series notebook chips codenamed Fire Range, which use the 3D V-Cache stacking cache technology that AMD previously applied only in the 7945HX3D processor, featuring 16 Zen4 CPU cores and a total of 144MB of cache.
This includes the latest flagship desktop CPU, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.
AMD introduced that the 9950X3D is aimed at 'gamers and creators' and is 'the best processor for gamers and creators in the world,' featuring 16 CPU cores based on the Zen 5 architecture, 32 threads, a frequency of up to 5.7GHz, and a total cache of 144MB.
AMD claims that based on benchmark tests of 40 titles running at 1080p, the average speed of the 9950X3D while playing popular games such as Hogwarts Legacy and StarCraft should improve by 8% compared to its predecessor 7950X3D. Game performance should be similar to the 9800X3D, with a difference of within 1%.
AMD even claims that in the same games, the 9950X3D is 20% faster than Intel's Core Ultra 9 285K. However, considering Intel's upcoming performance boost for the 285K, the gap between the two may narrow.
As a complement to the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D, AMD will also launch a new "Fire Range" chip series aimed at mid-range laptops and ultra-portables. This series will be released in the first half of 2025, including the Ryzen 9 9850HX, 9955HX, and 9955HX3D, featuring 12 to 16 cores and a maximum clock frequency between 5.2GHz and 5.4GHz.
The image below shows the Fire Range series chips and their specifications that AMD plans to release in the first half of 2025.
Editor/rice