Ryzen AI 300, the new era for AMD laptops

Finally, some independent testing.

Source: NotebookCheck

AMD has launched three new SKUs today: the already-announced Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365, now joined by the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which boasts faster NPU units. The top SKU features 4 Zen5 and 8 Zen5C cores, and up to 16 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units. This new architecture includes more CPU and GPU cores along with a significantly faster XDNA unit.

AMD is no longer differentiating its SKUs by TDP. Instead, laptop makers can configure a single SKU to support power ranges from 15 to 54W. This change may cause confusion for potential customers as it becomes harder to identify the official TDP. However, it allows for a wider range of power limits, ensuring that any chosen SKU performs as well as the previous generation U or H-series models, depending on the configuration.

Ryzen AI 300, Source: HardwareCanucks & ComputerBase

Initial tests on the popular review sample ASUS Zenbook S16 (which lacks a discrete GPU) show that RDNA 3.5 graphics are not as powerful as expected, delivering only a 12% performance increase over Hawk Point (check ComputerBase), despite having 50% more cores. Reviews also indicate that battery life is comparable to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Series, which was marketed for much longer battery life compared to existing platforms. The ASUS laptop, for instance, has similar runtimes to Qualcomm-based systems, even with a smaller battery and screen.

AMD still faces challenges in providing an effective solution for the XDNA NPU, as there not as many use cases at the moment, but this is a common issue among all Copilot+PC certified systems. Additionally, the availability of high-performance Strix Point APUs within laptops seems limited. It’s also odd that most review units are based on a 33W laptop, even though the APU can support much higher power configurations.

AMD Ryzen AI 300 Laptop Reviews:

• AnandTech
• BenchLife
• ComputerBase
• KitGuru
• Notebookcheck
• HardwareCanucks
• HardwareLuxx
• HardZone
• PCMag
• Phoronix

Based on the current BestBuy pricing, the cheapest Ryzen AI laptops costs around $1399. This is just the initial wave with relatively high specs (24GB RAM/1TB SSD). The cheapest version with discrete graphics (RTX 4050) costs $1700.

AMD Ryzen AI 300 laptops:

• BestBuy Affiliate Link
• ASUS Store

AMD Strix Point laptops will now gradually roll out to the market. Hopefully, we will soon see the first Mini-PCs and handhelds featuring these new APUs.