AMD is reportedly cooking up some new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs to fight a future release of Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs from Intel later this year.
In a new post by leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, we're learning that AMD is dropping the "AI" naming from this APU, as the company just launched its new Zen 5-powered Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" APU with an on-board NPU.
Golden Pig Upgrade said: "In order to cope with the release of Raptor Lake Refresh, also known as the Core 200 series (not Core Ultra) at the end of the year, AMD plans to rename the current Hawk Point, also known as the 8040 series, to the Ryzen 200 series (not Ryzen AI) next year. I think our A is still conservative and should be renamed Ryzen 300".
This new Hawk Point Refresh is a Ryzen 8040 series APU that is being refreshed/rebranded into the Ryzen 200 series, not the Ryzen AI 200 series... so a reverse from the AI processor market for this new Ryzen 200 series APU family.
- AMD Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" (laptop processor)
- AMD Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" (laptop processor + NPU)
- AMD Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" (laptop processor)
- AMD Ryzen 9000 series "Granite Ridge" (desktop processor)
- AMD Ryzen 7000 series "Raphael" (desktop processor)
Now, for Intel:
- Intel Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" (laptop processor)
- Intel Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake" (laptop processor + NPU)
- Intel Core Ultra 100 series "Meteor Lake" (laptop processor)
- Intel Core Ultra 200 series "Arrow Lake" (desktop processor)
- Intel 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" (desktop + laptop processor)
- Intel 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" (desktop + laptop processor)
I've compiled a list of the last few desktop and laptop CPU generations for AMD and Intel, to show you how confusing it'll be on consumers that don't read tech sites on the daily like TweakTown. AMD with its Ryzen 200 and Ryzen AI 300 series APUs is a little easier than a simple "V" on a CPU meaning something completely different.
If you buy a Core Ultra 200 series CPU you're getting a CPU without an NPU, and a refreshed CPU from years ago, while the Core Ultra 200V series CPU is a brand new CPU architecture, massively beefed-up Xe2 "Battlemage" integrated GPU with 50% more performance, and an NPU for AI workloads all made on TSMC's latest 3nm proces node.
Another entire series of CPUs from each company only complicates things, as much as it moves inventory.
Intel and AMD along with its various OEMs and partners would have a boat load of Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" APUs left in inventory, so a refresh with AMD and its Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" and Intel with its Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors would help clear that inventory out, so both companies can concentrate on their AI PC processors that are Copilot+ compliant with 45 TOPS of AI workload performance minimum.
We should expect AMD's new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs to feature similar specifications to what is already on the market with Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" APUs. This means we'll get up to 8 cores and 16 threads of CPU power based on the Zen 4 architecture, with up to 8MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, and TDPs between 45W and 54W. The integrated GPU is based on the RDNA 3 GPU architecture, with up to 12 Compute Units inside of the Radeon 780M integrated GPU.
Intel has its current-gen Core Ultra 100 series "Meteor Lake" CPUs, its upcoming Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake" CPUs, and its 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" and 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs on the market. It looks like we'll be seeing the Raptor Lake Refresh make an appearance in the new Core 200 series CPUs according to these new leaks from Golden Pig Upgrade.
AMD is expected to launch its new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs in early 2025, so expect a CES 2025 reveal most likely, while Intel is reportedly launching its new Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs later this year.