AMD is seemingly planning a huge CES 2025 show, where it should present six product lineups. These include upcoming mobile and handheld processors and Radeon 8000 GPUs.
According to leaker Zhangzhonghao, AMD will announce a heap of products at CES 2025 next January. These include upcoming Kraken Point, Strix Halo, and Fire Range processors, Z2 series of handheld chips, next-gen Radeon GPUs, and more Ryzen 9000X3D desktop CPUs.
Kraken Point
Kraken Point is a power-efficient design that combines the brand’s Zen 5 and Zen 5c cores with an RDNA 3.5 integrated GPU. Though these chips are destined to power thin and light notebooks/laptops, gaming handhelds aren’t totally out.
Its four Zen 5 plus four Zen 5c cores and eight RDNA 3.5 compute units should be enough for most tasks, including some gaming. There is even a 50 TOPS XDNA 2 NPU to satisfy those Copilot+ requirements, which is understandable as this APU will go up against Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X.
Strix Halo
Strix Halo is a much beefier design rumoured to power the upcoming Ryzen AI Max APU lineup. It’s expected to house up to 16 Zen 5 cores on the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 model, alongside a massive 40 RDNA 3.5 compute unit iGPU. Not to forget the XDNA 2 NPU for that growing AI demand.
With such horsepower, we can anticipate high graphic performance, similar to dedicated GPUs. To be specific, we are talking about performance above an RX 7600, which packs 32 RDNA 3 compute units. The leaks also suggested that the Ryzen AI Max series will support up to 96GB of video memory, allowing even VRAM-heavy workstation tasks.
Fire Range
Succeeding Dragon Range, Fire Range is pretty much desktop Ryzen 9000, but for mobile devices. This means that all models are likely paired with discrete GPUs, as integrated solutions are too small to do any substantial work. Leaks suggest these CPUs will use the same FL1 BGA package as Dragon Range, simplifying motherboard designs.
Regarding CPU performance, Fire Range should be on par with Strix Halo as both use Zen 5 cores. That said, the former is expected to take less power – between 55W and 75W due to the lack of a sizable iGPU.
With that in mind, the Fire Range has an ace up its sleeve in the form of 3D V-Cache. Yep, like its desktop counterpart, this series is also rumoured to offer X3D variants housing up to 128MB of cache. Coupled with a strong mobile GPU, this could become the go-to solution for those searching for maximum gaming performance.
Z2 Series
Expected to power upcoming gaming handheld devices, the Z2 lineup supposedly comprises three models: Z2G, Z2, and Z2 Extreme. The first seems to be the slowest of the bunch, with its eight Zen 3+ cores and 12 RDNA 2 compute units (CUs). The second looks identical to the existing Z1 Extreme powering the ROG Ally and Legion Go. As for the third, it’s a next-gen handheld flagship that aims to become the new go-to chip for handheld machines thanks to its eight Zen 5 cores and 16 RDNA 3.5 CUs. The latest leaks already claim that this series will find a home inside Lenovo’s Legion Go 2 devices.
Radeon 8000
Radeon 8000 – or whatever it ends up being called – is AMD’s next-gen GPU series. Based on RDNA 4 architecture, these chips mark a change in the brand’s strategy. According to the rumours we have, Radeon 8000 will not feature any high-end models, though not for lack of consideration. In other words, there will only be low- and mid-range models, giving Nvidia the freedom to do as it pleases in the enthusiast space.
Currently, early specs point towards Radeon 8000 carrying up to 48 CUs, putting its potential performance near the RX 7900 XTX. That said, pricing should be lower, reminding us of the Radeon RX 400/500 series, which offered great value for gamers.
Ryzen 9000X3D
All around the news lately, Ryzen 9000X3D is AMD’s answer to gamers unsatisfied with Ryzen 9000X performance. Packing an extra (64MB) layer of cache on top of the compute die, Ryzen 9000X3D – specifically the Ryzen 9800X3D – may become the new hotness. The brand even hinted at some changes to its 3D V-Cache design, which could mean even higher performance.
Interestingly, the leaker specifically mentions Ryzen 9950X3D and 9900X3D models are headed for CES, indicating that the 9800X3D is likely the one AMD plans to unveil on November 7.
CES 2025 seems to be packed with exciting news, be it AMD with all the products listed above or Nvidia and its RTX 5000 GPUs. We can’t wait to see what is cooking.
