AMD’s Ryzen 7040HS laptop processors, also known as the ‘Phoenix’ series, are one month behind. The processor was announced at CES 2023 for a March release, but AMD currently says it won’t launch until April. These notebook processor chips are perhaps best known for being the first to feature AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics architecture and AMD’s new cutting edge AI engine powered by his XDNA.
An AMD representative said, “In line with platform readiness and to ensure the best possible user experience, our OEM partners will launch the first notebooks with Ryzen 7040HS series processors in April. I look forward to it,” he said. tom’s hardware in a statement.
The cause of the delay is not clear and AMD has yet to answer detailed questions. However, AMD recently adjusted the specs on these chips, removing support for the PCIe 5.0 interface and reducing the peak clocks of their integrated GPUs.
The 7040HS “Phoenix” chip is embedded as the most powerful processor for the company’s ultrathin laptops. The notebook doesn’t have massive cooling to handle the more powerful “Dragon Range” 7045HX chip. The chip will use the Zen 4 CPU architecture on a 4-nanometer process with a TDP of 35-45 Watts. The HS-series processors debut AMD’s RDNA 3 graphics on mobile and are the first processors to use AMD’s new XDNA AI architecture.
AMD’s flagship Ryzen 9 7940HS is an 8-core/16-thread processor with a boost clock of up to 5.2 GHz while the Ryzen 7 7840HS reaches a boost of 5.1 GHz. The bottom chip, the Ryzen 5 7640HS, features 6 cores, 12 threads and hits up to 5.0 GHz.
| model | core/thread | Boost/Base Frequency (GHz) | Cache (MB) | TDP (width) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS | 8/16 | Up to 5.2/4.0 | 40 | 35-45 |
| AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS | 8/16 | Up to 5.1/3.8 | 40 | 35-45 |
| AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS | 6/12 | up to 5.0/4.3 | 38 | 35-45 |
The XDNA architecture is designed to keep AMD chips focused. “Real-Time AI Experience” AMD said at the launch: This technology is based on AMD’s acquisition of Xilinx. AMD integrated FPGA-like technology into its Phoenix chips within a year. This is an impressive feat given the traditional multi-year design cycle of modern semiconductors. In a press release, the company said that XDNA would be “the first purpose-built artificial intelligence hardware for x86 processors.”
In many ways, AMD’s Phoenix will compete with Apple’s M1 and M2 chips, which have been powered by neural engines since the launch of Apple Silicon in 2020. Panos Panay, Microsoft’s head of Windows and Surface, suggested that the integrated AI engine could be used for features such as eye contact and video framing. AMD is also working on an API that will allow software developers to leverage his XDNA engine to develop more advanced applications that run locally on laptops. They could include modern AI models descended from ChatGPT and DALL-E.
AMD has pushed ahead with the launch of its most powerful mobile chip, the 7040HX ‘Dragon Range’ series, based on the 5nm process without XDNA. However, this does not necessarily mean that XDNA is the reason for the delay.
AMD has yet to reveal which OEMs will be releasing laptops with Phoenix chips, but it does list the companies that are working with all the other chips in its CES announcement.
