Unleashing AMD Ryzen AI Max “Strix Halo” APUs: Features 16 Zen 5 Cores, 40 RDNA 3.5 Cores, 256 GB/s Bandwidth, and Up to 120W Performance

AMD has officially launched its Ryzen AI Max “Strix Halo”Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), featuring impressive specifications that cater to mobile workstation needs. The standout model, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, boasts up to 16 CPU cores and a robust 40 GPU cores, highlighting AMD’s advancements in artificial intelligence and graphics performance.

Revolutionizing Mobile Workstations: AMD’s Strix Halo Series

The newly unveiled AMD Strix Halo represents a groundbreaking shift in the AI PC landscape. Officially called the Ryzen AI Max and Ryzen AI Max Pro, these APUs are tailored for high-performance laptops, packing specifications that were previously unimaginable for mobile platforms. Each series incorporates two variants: the top-tier Max+ and the standard Max, with the former delivering the most powerful specifications.

AMD Strix Halo: Advanced Architecture and Performance

To create the Strix Halo line, AMD has leveraged its cutting-edge intellectual properties, including the Zen 5 architecture and RDNA 3.5 graphics cores. Each Zen 5 CPU core is arranged on dedicated chiplets, with support for up to 16 cores across two Core Complex Dies (CCDs). These chips are not merely iterations but foundational advancements in performance.

The integrated I/O die powers the GPU, featuring a maximum of 40 RDNA 3.5 compute units, complemented by advanced memory controllers utilizing the LPDDR5x standard. This combination allows for staggering memory bandwidth of up to 256 GB/s, ensuring the chip excels in data-intensive tasks. Furthermore, an impressive 50 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second) “XDNA 2″Neural Processing Unit (NPU) makes these APUs particularly suited for AI applications.

AMD Ryzen AI Max “Strix Halo”APU Lineup Overview

The Ryzen AI Max “Strix Halo”series consists of four distinct APUs, each available in standard and Pro variations, designed to meet varying performance needs.

AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 – Features 16 cores and 32 threads, capable of boosting up to 5.1 GHz with an 80 MB cache.
AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 – Boasts 12 cores and 24 threads, with up to 5.0 GHz and a 76 MB cache.
AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 – Offers 8 cores and 16 threads, also at 5.0 GHz, and has a 40 MB cache.
AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 380 – An entry-level option with 6 cores, 12 threads, a max clock of 4.9 GHz, and a 22 MB cache.

Specifications at a Glance

SKU Name	Architecture	CPU Cores	Max Clock	Cache	GPU Cores	TDP
Ryzen AI Max+ 395	Zen 5 / RDNA 3.5	16 / 32	5.1 GHz	80 MB	40 CUs (Radeon 8060S)	45-120W
Ryzen AI Max 390	Zen 5 / RDNA 3.5	12 / 24	5.0 GHz	76 MB	40 CUs (Radeon 8060S)	45-120W
Ryzen AI Max 385	Zen 5 / RDNA 3.5	8 / 16	5.0 GHz	40 MB	32 CUs (Radeon 8050S)	45-120W
Ryzen AI Max 380	Zen 5 / RDNA 3.5	6 / 12	4.9 GHz	22 MB	16 CUs (Radeon 8040S)	45-120W

Performance Benchmark: AMD vs. Competitors

Performance evaluations have shown that the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 significantly outperforms current competitors such as Intel and Apple. According to AMD’s findings, this model delivers up to 3 times greater performance (averaging 2.6 times) than Intel’s Lunar Lake “Core Ultra 9 288V”, while offering a marked advantage in graphics performance, being 158% faster on average.

When compared to Apple’s M4 Pro series, the Ryzen AI Max APUs remain competitive, excelling in scenarios where AI processing is critical. AMD asserts that the Max+ 395 is the first Copilot+ PC APU capable of operating with a 70 billion parameter Large Language Model (LLM), boasting 2.2 times faster AI performance in LM Studio than NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4090.

Expected to hit the market in Q1 and Q2 of 2025, these innovative chips will be incorporated into various laptops and Mini PCs from manufacturers such as HP and ASUS, including models like the HP ZBook Ultra G1a and ASUS ROG Flow Z13.