At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, AMD is anticipated to unveil its new flagship, the Strix Halo. This processor is expected to be significantly larger than the existing Strix Point, eliminating the previous Zen 5 and Zen 5c mix-and-match strategy. Instead, it will feature two Zen 5 Core Complex Dies (CCDs) — the same found in the current Ryzen 9000 desktop processors — allowing up to 16 Zen 5 cores. However, the Strix Halo stands out with its GPU which boasts 40 RDNA 3.5 Compute Units (CUs). This is an impressive 3.3 times increase compared to the Strix Point's 12 CUs. To support this substantial GPU upgrade, the Strix Halo is equipped with a 256-bit memory controller, which doubles the bandwidth available in most consumer processors currently using 128-bit controllers.

The Strix Halo lineup is expected to include three models, namely, the Ryzen AI Max 395+ with 16 cores and 32 threads, complemented by 40 CUs; the Ryzen AI Max 390 offering 12 cores and 24 threads, also with 40 CUs; and the Ryzen AI Max 385 featuring 8 cores and 16 threads with 32 CUs. This development will coincide with AMD's distinct categorization of the Radeon 8000 series for the Strix range, where the graphics core featuring 40 CUs is designated as the Radeon 8060S, while the version with 32 CUs is termed the Radeon 8050S. Both these GPU options have appeared on Passmark's ranking list.

For context, the existing Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, equipped with a Radeon 890M, scores just over 8,400 points on the Passmark benchmark. In comparison, the Strix Halo's projected performance is nearly double, ranging between 16,000 and 17,000 points. However, these scores should be cautiously interpreted. There's currently an anomaly where the higher-spec Radeon 8060S is yielding lower benchmark scores than the Radeon 8050S, likely due to the limited sample size impacting the score's reliability. Additionally, the thermal design power (TDP) of these test samples hasn't been identified. Based on the current metrics, the GPUs align closely with the performance levels of an RTX 3060 12GB, although they fall short of the RTX 4060 Laptop edition. Of course, the inherent limitations of Passmark scores should be considered when evaluating these results.