Powerful Zen 6 Medusa Halo iGPU could challenge desktop GPUs with 20% more CUs and 50% wider bus

After much anticipation, initial reviews of AMD’s Strix Halo were published last month. The Ryzen AI Max+ 395, the fastest Strix Halo APU, impressed us with its strong CPU performance thanks to 16x Zen 5 cores and blazing fast iGPU performance with a 40 CU Radeon 8060S. In fact, the Radeon 8060S is currently the fastest x86 iGPU on the market and can match an RTX 4070 laptop GPU with a 65-75 W TDP.

So, Strix Halo is a triumph as far as pure performance is concerned. However, AMD is reportedly getting ready to outdo Strix Halo next year with the Zen 6-based Medusa Halo, an APU that is expected to bring insane CPU and GPU performance uplifts.

Moore’s Law Is Dead claims that, come next year, AMD will launch the Medusa Halo APU with up to 24x Zen 6 cores courtesy of two 12-core CCDs. We reported previously that AMD will use this 12-core CCD across desktop and mobile chips. So, the desktop Zen 6 Medusa Ridge, mobile Medusa Point, and workstation Medusa Halo will rely on one or multiple 12-core CCDs.

With a 24-core Zen 6 CPU, MLID expects Medusa Halo to enjoy up to 50% better CPU performance vs Strix Halo.

Equally exciting is the information regarding Medusa Halo’s UDNA iGPU. MLID reports that AMD is upping the Compute Units (CUs) from 40 to 48, an increase of 20%. Some Medusa Halo SKUs could also get a 384-bit wide bus, 50% wider than the 256-bit bus on Strix Halo. A 20% increase in CU count and significantly more bandwidth will likely result in a massive iGPU performance bump. MLID expects the uplift to fall anywhere from 30 to 50%.

To put this iGPU performance in perspective, a 30% bump on top of the Radeon 8060S would put the Medusa Halo’s iGPU on par with the desktop RTX 4060 Ti. At 50%, Medusa Halo would comfortably outperform the desktop RTX 3070 Ti per our 3DMark Time Spy Graphics results.

That said, it is too early to say anything conclusive regarding the specs and performance of Zen 6 products. So, however exciting the MLID’s information is, take the leak with a grain of salt.

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