AMD Details Ryzen Mobile CPUs, Asus Shows Them Off In ROG Strix GL702ZC

By Andrew E. Freedman
published

AMD took the wraps off its mobile Ryzen CPUs at its press conference at Computex in Taipei on Wednesday, and they're coming to laptops very soon.
 
Specifically, 2-in-1s, thin-and-lights, clamshells, and gaming notebooks with Ryzen will be available in the second half of 2017. Business notebooks will start showing up in the first half of 2018.

In addition to an AMD-powered Acer 2-in-1, Asus announced the ROG Strix GL702ZC, a new gaming laptop running a full AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU (8 cores/16 threads), with discrete Radeon RX 580 GPU graphics. It also boasts a 17.3” FHD (1920x1080) display that supports FreeSync.

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AMD senior vice president and general manager of computing and graphics, Jim Anderson, said Ryzen has a 50% boost in CPU power, 40% boost in integrated GPU power, and a 50% drop in electricity usage from previous-generation APUs.

We have no pricing or release dates yet from Asus for its system, or from any other manufacturers just yet, but we expect to see a ton of laptops with Ryzen in our lab in the back half of the year.

Andrew E. Freedman
Andrew E. Freedman

Andrew E. Freedman is a senior editor at Tom's Hardware focusing on laptops, desktops and gaming. He also keeps up with the latest news. A lover of all things gaming and tech, his previous work has shown up in Tom's Guide, Laptop Mag, Kotaku, PCMag and Complex, among others. Follow him on Twitter: @FreedmanAE

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • artk2219
    Heres to hoping for some decent laptops with APU's in them from the OEM's. Some that aren't handicapped by fat chassis, crappy screens, single channel memory, 5400 rpm hd's, and small batteries. They've seriously been screwing amd's mobile chips over for years.
    Reply
  • Brian_R170
    The headline is "AMD Details Ryzen Mobile CPUs", but the article doesn't even provide even one detail about them. What gives?
    Reply
  • BulkZerker
    "They've seriously been screwing amd's mobile chips over for years."

    Decades is more apt.
    Since when was the last time a high end laptop had an AMD processor, even when they were the better choice on all levels?
    Reply
  • artk2219
    19757619 said:
    "They've seriously been screwing amd's mobile chips over for years."

    Decades is more apt.
    Since when was the last time a high end laptop had an AMD processor, even when they were the better choice on all levels?

    Sigh, 2005ish? There were some options from Acer and Gateway, but I think that's the last that I remember, unless you want to count MSI's GX60\GX70?

    https://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GX70-GX60-Destroyer-gaming-notebook-features-AMD-A10-5750M-quad-core-APU-and-R9-M290X-graphics.109448.0.html
    Reply
  • decembermouse
    "Since when was the last time a high end laptop had an AMD processor, even when they were the better choice on all levels?"

    My first laptop was a Voodoo Envy M:860. This was in 2004. It had an Athlon 64 3400+ Clawhammer DTR, 1GB DDR-400, 60GB HDD @ 7200RPM, and a 15.6" screen @ 1680 x 1050.

    Since those days, though, there really hasn't been anything like that, as far as I've seen. That M:860 laptop had some serious power back in the day though.
    Reply
  • redgarl
    I am more interesting in the APU with VEGA cores. I will wait for this one for my next laptop. I want an affordable, light and 1080p capable laptop.

    To hell with these discrete GPU options, they are heavy, power hungry and badly designed.

    It's where AMD will put Nvidia against the wall. Light, cheap, power efficient and capable gaming laptop. Next year seems to be it then.
    Reply
  • Lucky_SLS
    here's to hoping AMD does a good job with ryzen APU's iGPU/Radeon GPU crossfiring for dual branding and taking advantage in gaming. given their infinity fabric design philosophy, implementing that neatly would be fantastic.
    Reply
  • roadrun777
    AMD needs to double and tripple the apu gcn cores. I am surprised they didn't understand the model. I bet their investors are going to bail for good this time. If they release an APU that is the equivalent of HD6800 gpu then the APU business is toast for sure and that was the only thing that would have saved it.
    Put it this way, if you are going to release an APU in 2018 it should be able to beat a gpu card from 10 years previous and if it doesn't then might as well bail on the company.
    No amount of software support will fix that amount of fail. Sad part is I know they could skip a 'tick' or 'tock' cycle and actually get some market back.
    Reply
  • roadrun777
    Attention AMD: You are headed for a 2nd bankruptcy if you don't double the APU GCN minimum.
    They will have absolutely no market share if they do not skip a 'tick' 'tock' cycle with their APUs.
    If they do that they actually have a chance to gain market share again. Releasing a hobbled APU that can't beat a HD6800 will be the death-knell for AMD, so all their investors might as well abandon ship. I am clueless as to why they are missing the obvious here.
    releasing a 720p capable APU so it won't interfere with your discrete GPU is a horrible horrible mistake. Tripple the CU's on the APU or RIP AMD...
    Reply
  • roadrun777
    19758014 said:
    I am more interesting in the APU with VEGA cores. I will wait for this one for my next laptop. I want an affordable, light and 1080p capable laptop.

    To hell with these discrete GPU options, they are heavy, power hungry and badly designed.

    It's where AMD will put Nvidia against the wall. Light, cheap, power efficient and capable gaming laptop. Next year seems to be it then.
    Yes, so you see the obvious. It was supposed to be their 'niche' market. I have a suspicion that they are hobbling their APU cpus to push discrete sales, but I think they miss the point. People don't want discrete cards on their laptops form factor.
    If their engineering sample is a taste of what is to come you are looking at an APU that won't do 1080p.
    It is really sad if they commit to that. It is so obvious to everyone how they could gain a market share back, excepting AMD. We are looking at another year of the 720p laptops again if their board of directors don't step in and change course.
    Reply