Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX vs AMD Ryzen AI Max 385

Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX

The Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX is a mobile high-end CPU for gaming notebooks based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It offers 24 cores consisting of 8 fast performance cores with up to 5.5 GHz and 16 smaller efficiency cores with up to 4.6 GHz clock speed. The CPU has access to 40 MB L2 cache and 36 MB L3 cache and is specified with a TDP of 55 watts.

The SoC integrates a small dedicated NPU called AI Boost with 13 TOPS (Int8) and optionally supports vPro Enterprise. The integrated memory controller supports up to 192 GB DDR5-6400 (dual channel, ECC optional). The integrated GPU (iGPU) is a small Intel Graphics graphics card with four Xe cores running at 300 - 2000 MHz.

Performance - High End

The performance of the Ultra 9 285HX should be slightly below the similar Desktop Core Ultra 9 285K (higher clocked with up to 5.7 GHz and more TDP with 125 watts). Thanks to the improved IPC of the cores (especially the efficiency cores), the CPU should outperform the old Raptor Lake Core i9-14900HX (8 + 16 cores, max 5.8 / 4.1 GHz). This makes the CPU ideal for very demanding tasks such as high-end gaming and content creation.

Production - TSMC and Foveros

The Arrow Lake-HX chips are based on the desktop Arrow Lake-S chips and are composed of several chiplets. The CPU part is manufactured at TSMC in the modern N3B (3nm) process, the GPU also comes from TSMC in the N5P process. The SoC and I/O tile are manufactured in the TSMC N6 process. The base tile is manufactured by Intel in the 22nm process and carries the individual chiplets thanks to Fovero's 3D packaging.

AMD Ryzen AI Max 385

The AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 is a powerful Strix Halo family processor that debuted in January 2025. The APU comes equipped with 8 Zen 5 CPU cores running at up to 5.0 GHz, the 32 CU RDNA 3+ Radeon 8050S graphics adapter and the 50 TOPS XDNA 2 neural engine. Other noteworthy features include PCIe 4, USB 4 and LPDDR5x-8000 RAM support.

Architecture and Features

Unlike it is with Strix Point, Strix Halo parts are powered by Zen 5 cores - no Zen 5c here. It's not clear if this is the desktop Zen 5 implementation with full AVX512 throughput or the mobile one. According to AMD, Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC improvement over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.

Elsewhere, the AI Max chip supports RAM as fast as LPDDR5x-8000, and is natively compatible with USB 4 (and therefore Thunderbolt). It has PCIe 4.0 support for a throughput of 1.9 GB/s per lane, just like its 8000 series predecessors had. The integrated XDNA 2 NPU delivers up to 50 INT8 TOPS for accelerating various AI workloads. The CPU's L3 cache is fairly large at 32 MB. That being said, the higher-end 390 and 395 AI Max chips have twice the amount.

Performance

Its CPU performance should be about as good as the fastest Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, like the X1E-84-100.

Graphics

The Radeon 8050S sports 32 RDNA 3+ architecture CUs (2048 unified shaders) that could see it competing with entry-level and mid-range desktop graphics cards like the Radeon RX 7700 XT. This GPU will undoubtedly run any game at 1080p on Ultra, however, the ultimate question is whether or not the cooling solution of the laptop will be powerful enough to let the iGPU shine.

Naturally, the Radeon is capable of driving four SUHD 4320p60 monitors. It can also efficiently encode and decode the most popular video codecs including AVC, HEVC, VP9 and AV1. The latest addition to that list, the VVC codec, is not supported unlike it is with Intel Lunar Lake chips.

Power consumption

The AI Max 385 can eat up to 120 W depending on the system and its TDP power targets, with 45 W named as the minimum TDP.

The 4 nm TSMC process that the CPU cores are built with make for decent, as of Jan 2025, energy efficiency.