AMD’s Potential for “X3D” Mobile Chips: Strix Halo APUs Now Feature Dedicated 3D V-Cache TSVs

AMD’s upcoming Strix Halo CPUs are set to revolutionize the performance landscape, potentially incorporating additional L3 cache through the innovative 3D V-Cache technology, as evidenced in the die design.

Enhanced Performance on the Horizon: Strix Halo’s Innovative Features

Recent reviews of AMD’s Strix Halo have spotlighted its impressive integrated graphics performance, further extending AMD’s lead over Intel in this arena. Although Intel has made strides with its Arrow Lake-H and Lunar Lake lineups, the Strix Halo series establishes a formidable benchmark that may be challenging for competitors to surpass.

Looking ahead, AMD’s ambition doesn’t seem to wane. The die design for Strix Halo includes intriguing elements that suggest potential for performance upgrades. As Tony, General Manager of ASUS China, confirmed, the presence of Through-Silicon Vias (TSVs) in the design underscores this shift toward enhanced capabilities, as visualized in the images shared by ASUS.

Comparative image of Ryzen AI Max+ 395 vs Ryzen 9950X TSVs

By implementing TSVs, AMD is poised to position a 3D V-Cache chiplet directly above the existing L3 cache, effectively increasing the memory capacity and significantly boosting CPU performance for specific workloads. This advancement lays the groundwork for the future release of Strix Halo X3D processors, which have been anticipated in previous discussions.

Moreover, the Strix Halo die features a newly designed interconnect that minimizes space usage compared to the existing interconnect systems in desktop Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 CPUs. For context, in the die of the Ryzen 9 9950X, AMD employed a traditional Serializer/Deserializer (SERDES) for enabling data transfers between chiplets.

New interconnect system in Strix Halo CPUs

As Tony elaborated, this advanced interconnect design successfully reduces the overall chip footprint by an impressive 42.3%, resulting in a chiplet size of just 0.34mm smaller for the Strix Halo CPUs. This interconnect—dubbed a ‘sea of wires’—not only shrinks the chip’s dimensions but also improves latency and decreases power consumption.

The developments within the Strix Halo series provide a robust foundation for future technologies, particularly Zen 6. The current capabilities of Strix Halo processors, such as the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, are already exceptional for demanding computational tasks. Furthermore, the integrated Radeon 8060S GPU demonstrates remarkable performance, rivaling the GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU. This specification enables Strix Halo laptops to handle ultra-setting gaming without the necessity for a discrete GPU.

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