AMD Preps Cheaper 12, 16-Core Ryzen CPUs for Laptops: Leak

Ryzen Mobile Processor
(Image credit: AMD)

AMD's Ryzen 9 7845HX and Ryzen 9 7945HX processors are among the fastest gaming CPUs for laptops, and since these are the company's ultra-high-end offerings, they ought to be quite expensive, which somehow limits their adoption by PC makers. In a bid to capture some additional market share, AMD is reportedly prepping Ryzen 9 7840HX and Ryzen 9 7940HX CPUs that will offer similar core count, but will run at slight slower clocks.

"How come AMD slapped me in the face again [crying hard], they just said that Dragon Range will not be updated next year, and then they told me that they are releasing 7940/7840HX, the specifications are almost the same as 7045HX, with just a slightly lower frequency," wrote Golden Pig Upgrades, a renowned hardware leaker who tends to have accurate information. "However, it is still called Ryzen 7000, which indicates it is a 2023 U-series, so it does not count as a slap in the face."

It is expected that AMD's Ryzen 9 7840HX will retain its 12 Zen 4 cores, whereas Ryzen 9 7940HX will feature 16 Zen cores, just like the higher-end counterparts. Meanwhile, the new CPUs will run at lower clocks, which will enable AMD to address more price conscious buyers among mobile gamers without decreasing prices of its Ryzen 9 7845HX and Ryzen 9 7945HX processors and therefore preserve margins.

It is unclear when exactly AMD intends to launch the new Ryzen 9 7840HX and Ryzen 9 7940HX processors. It is reasonable for the company to release them shortly and ensure that laptops based on the new CPUs are on the market by holiday season, but this is our speculation at this point. The good news is that the new processors will be drop-in compatible with AMD's higher-end parts, so PC makers will not have to redesign their notebooks. 

What remains to be seen is how AMD will position these new parts in 2024. On the one hand, these will remain very high-performance offerings. But on the other, they will belong to the previous-generation Ryzen 7000-series processors, which will make it slightly harder to promote.

Anton Shilov
Contributing Writer

Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom’s Hardware. Over the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.

Read more
Hasee Event
Vendor claims Ryzen 9 9955HX3D with Zen 5 cores and 3D V-Cache is ready for launch — manufacturer also asserts Arrow Lake-HX CPUs offer minimal performance improvements
AMD Fire Range
AMD Launches ‘Fire Range’ HX3D mobile processor with game-boosting 3D V-Cache, other HX Series SKUs built on Zen 5 desktop CPU silicon
AMD
AMD launches Ryzen AI 300 and 200 series chips for laptops
AMD
AMD Strix Halo Ryzen AI MAX 395+ laptop chip matches the desktop Ryzen 9 7950X in leaked benchmark — 16-core APU rumored to power Asus' upcoming ROG Flow Z13 laptop
AMD CPU Family
Here's all the silicon AMD launched at CES 2025 - family die photos of Strix Halo, Krackan Point, Ryzen 9000X3D, Fire Range, and Hawk Point Refresh
Dragon Range
AMD Zen 5 Fire Range CPU surfaces inside next-gen gaming laptop — Ryzen 9000HX chip seemingly wields 16 Zen 5 cores
Latest in CPUs
Ryzen 5 9600X
AMD Ryzen 5 9600X hits all-time low price
Core Ultra 200S CPU
An Arrow Lake refresh may still be in the cards with only K and KF models, claims leaker
Tech Deals
Our alternate pick for the best gaming CPU is $190 cheaper than the 9800X3D right now - pick up the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X for just $289
ASRock fixes AM5 motherboard by cleaning it
ASRock claims to fix 'burned out' AM5 motherboard by cleaning the socket
Ryzen AI
AMD's Gorgon Point APU line-up breaks cover — Allegedly aiming for a 2026 launch
Nvidia Blackwell Ultra B300
The week in chip news: Nvidia's GTC 2025 blitz, new NVMe HDDs and watercooled SSD, Intel's restructuring begins
Latest in News
Despite external similarities, the RTX 3090 is not at all the same hardware as the RTX 4090 — even if you lap the GPU and apply AD102 branding.
GPU scam resells RTX 3090 as a 4090 — complete with a fake 'AD102' label on a lapped GPU
Inspur
US expands China trade blacklist, closes susidiary loopholes
WireView Pro 90 degrees
Thermal Grizzly's WireView Pro GPU power measuring utility gets a 90-degree adapter revision
Qualcomm
Qualcomm launches global antitrust campaign against Arm — accuses Arm of restricting access to technology
Nvidia Ada Lovelace and GeForce RTX 40-Series
Analyst claims Nvidia's gaming GPUs could use Intel Foundry's 18A node in the future
Core Ultra 200S CPU
An Arrow Lake refresh may still be in the cards with only K and KF models, claims leaker