AMD's next-gen Strix Halo, Strix Point, Kraken Point APUs have 3x AI performance boost in 2025

AMD is currently cooking its next-gen APUs that will need a little longer in the oven, according to leaker Moore's Law is Dead, which has new information on Kraken Point, Strix Point, Strix Halo, and Fire Range APUs.

The next-gen APUs have been delayed into 2025, which means we'll see the following APUs in 2024: Mendocino, Barcelo-R, Rembrandt-R, Hawk Point, and Dragon Range. AMD will reportedly have its beefed-up Strix Point APU in the second half of 2024. The APUs with -R on them are refreshes, with Barcelo and Rembrandt both getting refreshed in 2024.

However, the future is all about AI, with NVIDIA leading the charge there with AI GPUs, but Intel and Qualcomm are all about AI right now with the new Meteor Lake CPUs from Intel having AI processing on board, with the same going for the new Snapdragon X Elite SoC from Qualcomm. AMD is making the same move with AI, with its new Hawk Point APU featuring 16 TOPS of AI performance. We also have some numbers on the newer 2025 and beyond APUs that are much more powerful when it comes to processing AI workloads.

Microsoft will be pushing the charge when it comes to "smooth AI" on Windows 11, where OEMs have been informed by Microsoft that they should be aiming for 45-50 TOPS of AI performance for "smooth AI" on Windows 11. In order to get an "AI checkmark" for Windows 11, the AI performance on any chip will need to hit that metric to get the checkmark from Microsoft.

This is why Moore's Law is Dead is pointing out the TOPS performance for AMD's new APU, starting with the Escher APU in 2025, which will have 16 TOPS of AI performance. This will be an APU with an 8-core CPU based on the Zen 4 architecture and an RDNA 3-based GPU.

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Next up, we have the Kraken Point APU that will feature an 8-core CPU based on the new Zen 5 architecture, a beefed-up RDNA 3.5-based GPU, and much more AI performance with 45-50 TOPS.

• Fire Range: 16 cores Zen 5 + X3D
• Strix Halo: 16 cores Zen 5 + 40 CU RDNA 3.5 GPU + 45-50 TOPs
• Strix Point: 12 cores Zen 5 + RDNA 3.5 GPU + 45-50 TOPs
• Kraken Point: 8 cores Zen 5 CPU + RDNA 3.5 GPU + 45-50 TOPs
• Escher: 8 cores Zen 4 CPU + RDNA 3 GPU + 16 TOPs

Above that is Strix Point with a 12-core CPU based on Zen 5, an RDNA 3.5-based GPU, and the same 45-50 TOPS of AI power, while Strix Halo APU rolls out with 16 cores based on Zen 5, a 40CU-powered RDNA 3.5-based GPU, and once again, the same 45-50 TOPS of AI performance.

MLID does note that he's heard from his source: "Just to let you know, we (OEM) were just informed by Microsoft that they want the total TOPS for an APU to hit ~45-50 TOPS for smooth AI with Windows 11. Now we've also heard that you can possibly combine GPU and AIE TOPS for the total, but either way, you need to get above 45 TOPS to get their AI checkmark".