AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 information leak: 8 cores in 3+5 'Zen 5 + Zen 5C' configuration, Radeon 870M iGPU, faster than Ryzen 9 8945HS

Many reputable sources confirm that this will be a very notable chip in the second half of 2024.

According to leaked data posted on Geekbench, we have a new AMD Ryzen AI 300 CPU variant called Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160. This APU is part of the Ryzen AI PRO 300 family, which is expected to released next October. The new chip will have a very unique configuration, although it may look like a standard 8-core configuration, it is actually a relatively 'unique' structure.

Starting with the specifications, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 CPU is listed in the "Strix Point" family, and is featured in Lenovo laptops with the code "21M1SIT005". This chip has 8 cores and 16 threads, combined with 8MB of L2 cache and 8MB of L3 cache. The CPU has a base clock of 2.0GHz, which is standard on the Ryzen AI 300 chips announced so far, and a boost clock of up to 4.3GHz, which is slightly lower than the 5.0-5, 1GHz which we have seen on the remaining SKUs in the Ryzen AI PRO 300 family.

Structurally, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 CPU includes 3 Zen 5 cores and 5 Zen 5C cores in a 3 + 5 configuration, making a total of 8 cores. Responsible for graphics processing is the integrated iGPU Radeon 870M. This GPU will retain the same RDNA 3.5 GPU architecture but possess a lesser number of cores. The Radeon 890M has 16CU and the 880M has 12CU, so we can expect 8CU for the Radeon 870M variant. The clock speed remains around 2GHz+.

AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 information leak: 8 cores in 3+5 'Zen 5 + Zen 5C' configuration, Radeon 870M iGPU, faster than Ryzen 9 8945HS Picture 1

The 8-core configuration in the Strix Point line may give us our first glimpse of the Kraken Point APU. The Kraken Point APUs are expected to come in very similar Zen 5 and Zen 5C hybrid configurations but only offer up to 8 cores. These APUs are expected to offer up to 12 CUs so we could see a higher-end variant at the official launch. This makes them a perfect fit for mini PCs and handheld gaming devices that are limited in TDP due to limited cooling space or smaller batteries.

AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 information leak: 8 cores in 3+5 'Zen 5 + Zen 5C' configuration, Radeon 870M iGPU, faster than Ryzen 9 8945HS Picture 2

Moving on to performance metrics, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 160 CPU scored 2514 points in the single-core test and 11,772 points in the multi-core tests according to the Geekbench 6 rating scale. The performance is 7% faster than Ryzen 9 8945HS in single-core tests but just about equal in multi-core tests. The "160" naming also tells us something else interesting about this chip and why its performance is a bit lackluster in the multithreading department.

The "160" naming was used by early engineering samples before AMD decided to switch to the new "300" series branding, so this chip will be called the Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (unless AMD decided to name the SKU differently). The ES nature of this chip could explain the low boost clock speed and the resulting not-so-great performance score, but it remains to be seen how the processor will perform in real-life day-to-day use.

Samuel Daniel

Update 08 July 2024