AMD Fire Range uses the same FL1 package as Dragon Range, but it will cost more

Some interesting rumors coming from Golden Pig Upgrade.

Golden Pig Upgrade is a well-known tech reviewer and AMD leaker on Chinese Weibo. This account has provided early information on several key updates. For instance, Golden Pig Upgrade was the first to reveal AMD’s last-minute change from the Ryzen AI 100 to the AI 300 series for Strix Point. They also leaked the existence of a 10-core variant in the same series. Additionally, they were the first to share details on the Core Ultra 100H series. While the information from this account is credible, it’s worth remembering that last-minute changes, such as those seen with the Ryzen 300 series, can still happen.

The latest rumor (or leak if you prefer) covers AMD’s next-gen Ryzen HX series. These are enthusiast-class desktop CPUs repurposed as mobile chips. The current generation features up to 16 Zen 4 cores and is currently the fastest gaming architecture on the market for laptops, mainly thanks to the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D SKU which uses 3D V-Cache memory.

According to the latest rumors, the upcoming “Fire Range” (Zen 5) series will use the same FL1 package as the current lineup known as “Dragon Range” (Zen 4). This means that potential laptop designs featuring the new architecture would require little to no design changes, as long as they stick to the old-gen graphics.

While the there’s no socket change mentioned, these laptops will still have to go through some updates due to arrival of GeForce RTX 50 Blackwell GPUs. The good news is that this also means that older platforms could be upgraded to use Zen 4 CPUs. It is even claimed that budget brands will focus on the Zen 4 HX-series rather than the newer Fire Range systems.

In contrast, Intel’s laptop partners will need to completely redesign their motherboards, as the 14th Gen Core series is not compatible with the Core Ultra 200 (Arrow Lake). There is no information yet on whether Core Ultra 100 (Meteor Lake) gaming laptops are compatible with Arrow Lake, but there are far fewer systems with such high-end graphics compared to the HX series. Except for the Core Ultra 9 185H (45W TDP SKU), Meteor Lake is not widely used in gaming systems.

AMD Mobile Packages

• AMD FP6 : 25×35 mm Renoir Cezanne Lucienne Barcelo
• AMD FP7(r2) : 25x35mm Rembrandt/-R Phoenix
• AMD FP8 : 25×40 mm Phoenix Hawk Point Strix Point
• AMD FL1 : 40×40 mm Dragon Range Fire Range 🆕
• AMD FP11 : 37.5x45mm Strix Halo

In any case, AMD next-gen Zen5 HX-series, which we suspect could be called Ryzen 9045HX, would be more expensive than the last-gen series. The upcoming Strix Point laptops are already more expensive than the last-gen Phoenix system, so there’s clearly a price hike for mobile Zen5.

Source: Golden Pig Upgrade (Weibo)