AMD’s upcoming Strix Point Halo and Krackan Point APUs are slated for a potential January 2025 launch at CES. Recent leaks offer a glimpse into the performance of these next-generation processors, specifically the Krackan Point Ryzen AI 7 350, found in an Acer Swift Go 16 laptop.
A Geekbench listing reveals key specifications of the Ryzen AI 7 350 engineering sample. The chip boasts eight cores, split into two four-core clusters, utilizing a combination of Zen 5 and Zen 5c architectures. Operating at a base frequency of 2GHz, the processor can boost up to an impressive 5.05GHz. The listing also indicates 16MB of L3 cache and 8MB of L2 cache.
Leaked Geekbench 6 scores of upcoming AMD Krackan Point Ryzen AI 7 350.
The Acer Swift Go 16, equipped with the Ryzen AI 7 350, achieved a single-core score of 2677 and a multi-core score of 11742 in Geekbench 6.3. This positions the Krackan Point APU as a direct competitor to Intel’s Lunar Lake processors, particularly the Core Ultra 7 258V. These benchmarks demonstrate a significant performance jump over AMD’s existing Hawk Point-based Ryzen 7 8845HS. While the Ryzen AI 7 350 shows promising results, its performance falls short of the twelve-core Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, particularly in multi-core workloads.
AMD’s Next-Gen APU: Features and Performance
Beyond core performance, the Krackan Point APU is expected to incorporate the Strix Point’s XDNA 2 NPU with a processing power of 50 TOPS. Graphics are handled by the integrated Radeon 860M RDNA 3.5 GPU, featuring 8 Compute Units (CUs). The higher-performance Strix Halo lineup, potentially branded as Ryzen AI Max, is rumored to include a more powerful iGPU capable of rivaling Nvidia’s RTX 4060 laptop GPU.
These leaked specifications align with earlier predictions from known leaker Zhangzhonghao, who has a track record of revealing upcoming hardware releases. AMD is anticipated to unveil a range of next-generation processors, including the Krackan Point APUs and Ryzen AI Max CPUs for laptops, all featuring RDNA 3.5 graphics.
A Glimpse at the Future of AMD Laptop Processors
The high-performance Strix Halo models could comprise the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 (16 cores), 390 (12 cores), and 385 (8 cores). Fire Range CPUs, successors to the Dragon Range series, will target the gaming laptop market.
Further rumors suggest potential releases of X3D laptop CPUs and next-generation Ryzen Z2 chips for handheld gaming PCs, promising performance gains over the current Ryzen Z1 Extreme.
In conclusion, the leaked benchmarks of the Ryzen AI 7 350 indicate AMD’s commitment to delivering competitive performance in the mobile processor space. The upcoming Krackan Point and Strix Halo APUs are poised to significantly enhance the laptop experience, offering a potent combination of CPU and GPU capabilities. With the anticipated launch at CES 2025, users can expect a wave of new laptops featuring these powerful AMD processors.
