At the “Advancing AI” event on 6 December, AMD announced the new Ryzen 8040 Series mobile processors, consisting of a total of nine distinct processors, encompassing five models under the 8040HS category and four under the 8040U category.
Videocardz reports that these new series, known as “Hawk Point” and derived from Phoenix, will once again incorporate the Zen 4 CPU and RDNA 3 GPU architectures. Notably, there is an enhancement to the Ryzen AI core, referred to as NPU (Neural Processing Unit).
The flagship model in the Hawk Point series is named Ryzen 9 8945HS, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. This part boasts a boost clock of up to 5.2 GHz, in line with its Phoenix predecessor. The configurable TDP for this model ranges from 35W to 54W. Integrated within the processor is the Radeon 780M RDNA3 graphics with 12 Compute Units.
Slightly stepping down with a 100 MHz lower boost clock is the Ryzen 7 8845HS, targeting the same TDP range.
AMD is preparing three subseries within the Hawk Point lineup. The primary distinction between the xx45HS and xx40HS parts lies in the latter’s lower configurable TDP, ranging from 20 to 30W. For example, the Ryzen 7 8840HS shares identical boost clock specifications with the 8845HS but targets lower TDPs.
Expanding the product range, AMD will introduce the Ryzen 5 8645HS and 8640HS, both featuring 6 cores and 12 threads, with boost clocks of 5.0 GHz and 4.9 GHz, respectively. These processors come equipped with Radeon 760M integrated graphics and cater to different TDP ranges, specifically 35-54W for the xx45HS and 20-30W for the xx40HS.
Within the Ryzen 8040U lineup, designed to operate within a TDP range of 15 to 30W, options will be available in 8-core, 6-core, and 4-core configurations. Notably, the Ryzen 5 8540U and 8440U do not incorporate the XDNA NPU.
AMD has confirmed that the Ryzen 8040 XDNA NPU will offer a performance boost compared to the 7040 series, increasing from 10 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second) to 16 TOPS. This translates to a 40% increase in generative AI workloads, such as those found in Meta’s Llama2 or Vision Models.
In terms of gaming and content creation performance, AMD conducted benchmark evaluations comparing the 8940H to the Intel Core i9-13900H at 1080p on low settings. AMD asserts that its own chip surpasses Intel’s by up to 1.8X.
The company said that OEMs such Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Razer, will be releasing laptops with Ryzen 8040 Series processors in it, starting in Q1 2024.
AMD also unveiled a third-generation NPU, named “Strix Point,” set to be shipped in 2024, likely incorporated within the next-generation Ryzen processor.
While specific Strix Point specifications were not disclosed by AMD, the company did mention that it is expected to deliver over three times the generative AI performance compared to the previous generation.
