SOUYO S9 Ai Mini-PC with Ryzen AI HX 9 370 tested
ETA Prime has tested the very first Mini-PC that has shipped for a review.
As we reported earlier, companies are already working on such devices, but the timing for their release is unclear, with some suggesting they might appear in October. The good news is that several companies are developing these devices, although not all have officially announced their plans.
The company SOUYO has shipped a prototype unit for review. This isn’t the final version, and there are some issues that will be or have already been fixed. It is said that this product will be ready in 2.5 months, which coincides with previous rumors about the launch dates for such systems.
The Ryzen AI 300 series, codenamed “Strix Point,” are AMD’s new Zen5-based processors. Not only do they feature a new core type, but the core count has also been increased from 8 to 12, with 4 Zen5 cores and 8 of a denser design called Zen5c. Perhaps most interesting for GPU enthusiasts is the upgrade from RDNA3 to RDNA3.5 graphics. Additionally, the number of Compute Units has increased from 12 to 16, which has a noticeable effect on performance.
SOUYO S9 Mini-PC, Source: ETA Prime
The company has now confirmed that there will be two variants of this Mini-PC, featuring either the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (the top SKU with full silicon) or the Ryzen AI 9 365 with 10 CPU cores and 12 CU graphics.
The PC is quite small compared to the top Ryzen 7040/8040HS variants. What’s also interesting is that it has three M.2 slots, which is uncommon in such devices. This means it can also serve as network-attached storage or a home server. The prototype had some issues with one of the slots, but these are almost certainly going to be fixed. The same applies to the USB4 Type-C port on the front. Otherwise, the device should work without any major issues.
SOUYO S9 Mini-PC, Source: ETA Prime
Another interesting aspect is that this PC relies on LPDDR5X memory. This allows the device to be smaller and improves cooling, but it also means no memory upgrades, as there are no SODIMM modules in this device. The memory speed should reach 6400 or 7500 MT/s (not yet decided), and 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacities are planned. The unit tested had 7500 MT/s memory.
SOUYO S9 Mini-PC, Source: ETA Prime
After confirming the specs, ETA showed that the PC runs at 65W max TDP and started testing the device in 3DMark right away.
AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Tests:
- Time Spy (Graphics) : 3792
- Steel Nomad : 625
- Fire Strike (Graphics) : 10319
- Cyberpunk 2077 1080p, low, FSR Balanced : 74 FPS (AVG)
- Starfield 1080p, Low, 50% res scaling, Frame Gen : 78 FPS (AVG)
- Hogwarts 1080p, Low, FSR Balanced : 72 FPS (AVG)
- Mortal Kombat 1 1080p, Medium, FSR Balanced : 60 FPS (AVG)
- Horizon Forbidden West 1080p, Low, Frame Gen : 60-70 FPS
- Ghost of Tsushima 1080p, Medium, FSR 3.1 Balanced, Frame Gen : 62-73 FPS
- Red Dead Redemption 2 1080p, Low , FSR Balanced : 76 FPS (AVG)
SOUYO S9 Mini-PC, Source: ETA Prime
As noted by Prime, the PC runs games at 1080p without much issue, even for titles that would typically have a worse experience on last-gen series (Phoenix), which require either a lower-quality FSR profile or reduced resolution. The HX 370, however, encounters no such problems, though it clearly benefits from using low or medium settings combined with various super resolution or frame generation technologies.
Now, the only question that everyone is asking, when will the first gaming handheld with HX 370 launch?