AMD’s latest mobile processor, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, part of the codenamed Strix Point series, promises a significant performance boost over its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 8945HS, or ‘Hawk Point’. Leaks suggest a 20% improvement in both CPU and integrated graphics capabilities. What does this performance leap mean for Zen 5 as a whole and what can consumers expect to see in-game with such a boost?
Upgrade breakdown
The leak, which came from HotHardware, shows that the core of this upgrade lies in AMD’s new Zen 5 architecture. The HX 370 uses a hybrid core configuration, combining four high-performance Zen 5 cores with eight Zen 5c cores. While Zen 5c boasts the same instructions per clock, or IPC, as Zen 5, its lower boost speeds limit the overall multi-threaded performance gain to around 20%. IPC tells you how many instructions a CPU can complete in a single clock cycle.
In simpler terms, it reflects how much work a CPU can do in each tick of its internal clock. This translates to a projected Cinebench R23 nT score exceeding 20,000 points, compared to the Hawk Point’s 16,000.
Graphics improvement
The graphics department sees a similar 20% leap. Strix Point boasts a revamped RDNA 3.5 iGPU with 16 compute units (CUs) – a 33% increase from Hawk Point’s 12 CUs. This translates to 1,024 stream processors, significantly enhancing graphical capabilities. Leaks anticipate the Strix Point’s iGPU surpassing Intel’s Arc Xe-LPG graphics found in Core Ultra “Meteor Lake” processors by at least 20%. AMD itself claims a 36% lead over the Arc Graphics iGPU in the Core Ultra 9 185H processor.
NPUs
The true star of the show might be the Neural Processing Unit, or NPU. The Strix Point boasts a staggering 50 TOPS of AI inferencing performance, exceeding the 40 TOPS required by Microsoft’s Copilot+ AI PC program. For context, A higher TOPS rating indicates the NPU can handle more complex AI calculations quicker. This translates to smoother performance in applications that rely on AI. For example, this level of NPU power allows Windows to run Copilot sessions locally, minimizing cloud dependency and boosting privacy.
Overall, the Ryzen AI 9 300 series with Strix Point architecture appears to be a compelling upgrade for mobile users seeking better performance across CPU, GPU, and AI capabilities. While core count increases by 50% compared to the previous generation, the hybrid Zen 5/Zen 5c configuration keeps multi-threaded performance gains closer to 20%. As a tangent, this improved mobile power is an exciting preview of what’s to come for next-generation gaming handhelds.
