Ryzen (Zen)

Initially announced only with Intel Arrow Lake mobile processors, the NEO 16 2025 laptops are now launching with additional AMD Ryzen 9000/X3D APU options. The E25 (Intel) and A25 (AMD) variants are available for pre-sale with RTX 5090 / 5080 / 5070 Ti GPU options, up to 96 GB RAM, up to dual 8 TB SSD storage and up to a 16-inch Mini LED 300 Hz 2560 x 1600 display.

AMD’s promotional game bundle brings the $70 Monster Hunter Wilds Standard Edition with a purchase of an eligible Ryzen CPU or Radeon GPU, as well as Ryzen AI 9 300, Ryzen 7000HX, 7000HX3D, Ryzen 8000, and Ryzen AI Max series laptops.

Ryzen 9800X3D owners have some hope of saving their CPUs thanks to the latest BIOS update from ASRock. Hopefully this will fix the boot and instability issues users have been facing.

Early leaked benchmarks of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D reveal that the new 3D V-Cache Zen 5 CPU is significantly faster than its predecessor in gaming tasks. Despite this, the 9950X3D still manages to keep up with the regular Ryzen 9 9950X in non-gaming workloads — an area where X3D CPUs previously fell flat.

AMD has announced that it will join Framework at the upcoming February 25 Framework 2nd Gen hardware launch event. This, along with Framework's previous cryptic teaser, suggests that perhaps AMD and Framework may release an upgradeable and repairable AMD Strix Halo motherboard and accompanying hardware.

An AMD Strix Halo engineering sample has been benchmarked, and the leaked Time Spy results show the Radeon iGPU very nearly matching the average Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 desktop GPU, hinting at a massive improvement over the AMD Radeon RX 890M.

Interview AMD announced several new Ryzen AI APUs across Strix Point, Kraken Point, Fire Range HX3D, and Strix Halo product lines at CES 2025. We sat down with AMD's Ben Conrad to discuss these APUs, what went into their design, and what they mean for AMD, OEM partners, and laptop buyers in 2025.

The CPU market share graphs over at the PassMark benchmark site make for interesting reading lately, as it seems AMD has once again surpassed Intel in terms of desktop CPU market share. This last happened back in the first quarter of 2021. However, it appears love for Ryzen laptop APUs hasn’t really blossomed since the advent of Ryzen 4000.

The Aokzoe A1 X looks like a solid competitor to the likes of the Asus ROG Ally X and upcoming MSI Claw 8+ AI, thanks to a sizeable battery, powerful CPU, and 8-inch, 120 Hz display.

Geekom's A6 mini PC is now available for purchase. The tiny desktop features an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU with integrated Radeon graphics, plenty of RAM and storage space, and a solid selection of I/O. Geekom states it is targeting budget-minded consumers, pricing the A6 at just under $500.

One of the biggest hardware changes coming to the Lenovo Legion Go 2 will also be compatible with the original Legion Go. Lenovo has also confirmed that it will sell the Legion Go 2 controllers separately, although likely through the spares catalogue, which may present problems for some users.

Strix Halo goes ZBook: HP is one of the launch partners of AMD for its new Ryzen AI Max Platform. The new HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a compact workstation that may compete well against the Apple MacBook Pro 14.

AMD has unveiled its most powerful Copilot+ PC APU lineup. Dubbed the Ryzen AI Max series, the Strix Halo series led by the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 offers up to 16C/32T configurations with a 50 TOPS NPU and RDNA 3.5 GPU with up to 40 CUs. AMD is aiming to take on the M4 Pro Macs, the Core Ultra 9 288V, and even the RTX 4090 with these new APUs.

Geekom has several new mini PCs innovations on display at CES 2025. The QS1 is the world's first ARM-powered mini PC featuring the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite SoC for unmatched performance and power efficiency. Also on display are the A9 Max powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 that offers a total of 80 TOPS AI performance and the A6, which offers excellent cost effectiveness at the $500 mark.

CheckMag Budget laptops are dying, because budget laptop chips - real budget chips, not just last generation's leftovers - are already dead.

Intel CPUs are not exactly fan favorites at the moment, as Mindfactory's CPU sales data for the past three weeks shows AMD dominating the charts. The situation is so bad for Intel that the new Arrow Lake chips account for a fraction of the sales of AMD Zen 5 chips.

Asus recently shared a video demonstrating its ProArt PA401 case, featuring a Ryzen 9 9950X CPU cooled passively using a Noctua NH-P1 cooler. The system managed to run without any noticeable performance downgrades, although there is a caveat to the story.

With its elegant and compact clamshell design, the Ayaneo Flip KB offers a comfortable handheld gaming experience. The Radeon 780M GPU performance is in line even with more powerful competitors, despite the 30 W TDP limit, while connectivity is future proof with USB4 and OCuLink. Some downsides include the cooling system that is a bit noisy in full load and the reduced battery runtime.

Serial leaker Moore's Law Is Dead has leaked details regarding the specs and performance of the low-power Strix Halo variant, the Strix Halo LP. Also termed "Halo 128-bit", the Strix Halo LP APU allegedly enjoys eight full Zen 5 cores and an iGPU that can rival the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Max-Q in performance.

Maingear has announced that it has used on-trend Fractal Design cases to make its latest series of custom workstations. They include the Pro WS, based on the popular North XL with its wooden finish. The new line has AMD Ryzen 9000- or Intel Raptor Lake-K to Arrow Lake variants and NVIDIA RTX graphics that run from the 4060 to multiple A6000 Ada cards.

A new leak has revealed key details about AMD’s next-generation Ryzen Threadripper 9000 series, codenamed Shimada Peak. Featuring Zen 5 architecture, the lineup will range from a surprising 16-core variant to a flagship 96-core model, all with a 350-watt TDP prioritizing performance over power efficiency.

The AM4 platform is now a couple of generations old, but still popular enough that even in 2024 AMD is releasing new chips in the form of the 5900XT. Whether you want to go for a 2024 chip or one released in 2020, you can get 12 and 16 cores of AM4 goodness at rock bottom prices on Amazon right now.

Windows 10 users have been served full-screen upgrade warnings for Windows 11 before, but now, Microsoft is using the same tactic for full-on ads. Users are being shown the newest in the Microsoft Surface lineup, and being urged to upgrade their PC to get "the ultimate Windows 11 experience".

Intel is having a pretty hard time selling CPUs in Germany according to Mindfactory sales data for the current week. Team Blue has taken such a beating that there is only one SKU, the low-end Core i3-14100, in the top 30 best-selling CPUs on Mindfactory.

GPD has unveiled pricing for its Pocket 4 mini laptop, a versatile 770g device combining a handheld, laptop, and a tablet in a single device. Powered by AMD Zen 4 and Zen 5 processors, SKUs will be available ranging from $895 to $1,466, with features like an 8.8-inch 2.5K 144Hz display, up to 64GB of RAM, and optional accessories for enhanced connectivity. If the crowdfunding campaign succeeds, the device is expected to launch by the end of the year.

According to serial leaker Moore's Law Is Dead, the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is apparently selling so well that US retailers can't seem to fulfill demand despite receiving a lot of stock at launch. More interestingly, the leaker claims that some companies are buying more-than-necessary PC components, including the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, in fear of future import tariffs.

After an underwhelming Zen 5 launch where the new Ryzen 9000 CPUs failed to deliver any noteworthy gaming performance increase over Zen 4, AMD has nailed the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. According to a launch review analysis conducted by 3DCenter, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D outperforms the Ryzen 7 7800X3D in gaming by a double-digit margin.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has shown an insane 6.9 GHz clock speed in Counter-Strike 2 when overclocked using LN2 cooling. As a result, the CPU played the game at a mind-boggling >1,000 FPS while also netting a massive increase in multi-core performance.

The upcoming AMD Strix Halo APUs are shaping up to be quite impressive with a powerful Zen 5 CPU and an RDNA 3.5 iGPU. Per the latest Strix Halo specs and performance leak from Moore's Law Is Dead, the flagship Strix Halo iGPU is powerful enough to go against the RTX 4070 laptop GPU. Additionally, the leaker reveals that the APUs will debut inside workstations in Q1 2025.

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is set to see the light of day on the 7th of November. The 120 W chip is expected to arrive with 8 Zen 5 cores and a boost clock of 5.2 GH. In a recent Blender benchmark apperance, the 9800X3D thrashes the 7800X3D will failing to keep up with Intel's Arrow Lake-S.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has made its debut on PugetBench, specifically in the Premeire Pro and DaVinci Resolve tests. The processor appears to blow past comparable systems from Intel, with the exception of the higher-end Core Ultra 9 285K.

AMD has released a new chipset driver, and it has just revealed the naming scheme of the upcoming Strix Halo series. As previous reports suggested, it seems that the lineup will indeed be called the Ryzen AI Max 300.

The Geekom A7 boasts the highly capable and power-efficient AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS APU with Radeon 780M graphics, together with class-leading connectivity and aesthetics to elevate your productivity and multimedia experiences. The A7 is now all the more enticing thanks to a time-limited flat $120 or £150 discount.

If rumors are to be believed, the launch of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is imminent. As such, leaks have picked up pace, revealing key specifications like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's clock speeds. According to the latest information, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D seemingly brings a considerable all-core boost clock gain over the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. This gain also alludes to a big increase in single-core boost frequency.

Cinebench scores for the rumoured AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and Ryzen 9 9950X3D have leaked, revealing an almost 30% performance boost over the previous-generation CPUs. These performance improvements are present in both single- and multi-core benchmarks, meaning the Ryzen 9000 CPUs with 3D V-Cache should be gaming powerhouses.

CheckMag The PS5 Pro is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. At $699 (plus $75 extra if you want a physical disk drive), that’s a good chunk of change for a device that only really plays games. So, exactly how much PC could one buy for that amount of cash, and would it be competitive?

The A8 is one of the most compact mini PCs powered by AMD's Hawk Point APUs. It packs an impressive port selection including USB4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 3x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 2x HDMI 2.0 and a full-size SD card reader. Geekom adds a free wireless keyboard and mouse.

AMD has allegedly fixed the latency issue affecting the dual-CCD Ryzen 9000 CPUs. The fix has come in the form of a new AGESA update that is currently in beta. The fix has reportedly managed to reduce the Zen 5 inter-CCD latency to Zen 4 levels.

USB-A belongs among the "legacy" ports. This means: It is an outdated standard only maintained for legacy reasons, to be replaced by USB-C. With the affordable ThinkPad L14, Lenovo takes a step into the opposite direction: Instead of two USB-A ports, the budget business laptop has three USB-A ports.