As reported by HXL on X (Twitter), Asus has begun to drop BIOS updates for its AMD AM5 motherboards featuring Team Red's latest AGESA microcode update, version PI 1.0.8.0. According to Asus, the new microcode patch supports "upcoming" CPUs, confirming that AMD is adding more Ryzen CPUs to the AM5 platform. The question is, what CPUs?
It's highly doubtful AMD's Ryzen 8000 CPUs are coming already. Still, there's a good chance this new microcode update adds support for AMD's rumored Ryzen 7000 series APUs codenamed Phoenix or Phoenix 2, and Ryzen 8000 series APUs codenamed Hawk Point. Since Ryzen 7000's release, no dedicated APU offerings, like past generations, offer high-performance integrated graphics capabilities.
Phoenix 2 rumoredly may be a new flavor of AMD's current Ryzen 7040 series Phoenix CPUs, featuring big Zen 4 cores and little Zen 4c cores — similar to Intel's hybrid architectures. Phoenix 2's design targets budget-friendly laptops, sporting a maximum core configuration of six (at least in its known mobile format). Phoenix, however, will stay the way it is, targeting mid-range and higher-end thin-and-light notebooks with a peak of up to eight Zen 4 cores.
If Phoenix 2 comes to AM5 and features an adaptation to a desktop environment, it will represent the first hybrid architecture to arrive on the desktop for AMD, sporting two sets of cores. If it comes with the same core limitations as its mobile counterpart, we could see it offered in the form of Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 3 SKUs featuring entry-level pricing.
A more likely candidate for AMD's upcoming AM5 CPUs is Hawk Point, which should take up the Ryzen 8000 series nomenclature. But, before you get your hopes up, Hawk Point is not expected to pack Zen 5 cores but will feature the same Zen 4 cores as current Ryzen 7000 CPUs. The rumor mill believes Hawk Point will be a refreshed variant of AMD's mobile Phoenix Ryzen 7040 CPUs that will focus on upgrading the chip's integrated graphics chip over anything else.
While current Ryzen 7040 chips utilize AMD's latest RDNA 3 architecture, Hawk Point reportedly comes with AMD's RDNA 3.5 architecture. Specs and performance details about RDNA 3.5 are completely scarce at this point. Still, it is obvious to assume this "mid-cycle refresh" for RDNA 3 will presumably improve the performance or efficiency of AMD's RDNA 3 iGPs like the Radeon 780M. Rumors believe Hawk Point will pack up to 12 CUs, just like the outgoing Ryzen Z1 Extreme and Radeon 780M iGP.
Hawk Point is a more likely candidate for AM5 because no details suggest it will include Zen 4c cores. Including more petite Zen 4 cores is not impossible, but Hawk Point will likely ship with the same core configurations as AMD's outgoing Ryzen 7040 Phoenix CPUs. It would make a lot more sense in a desktop environment that priorities performance beyond anything else.
Now that Asus has dropped official BIOS updates featuring the new AM5 microcode, we should see AMD announcing new Ryzen 7000/8000 APUs very soon.
