Zen 4 processors from AMD are undoubtedly some of the best CPUs on the market. However, the chipmaker is already preparing its next-generation Zen 5 chips, as evidenced by recent Linux patches and this new leak, coming to us via Benchleaks, of an alleged Ryzen 8000 (Strix Point) part. As always with leaks, take the news with a pinch of salt.
Officially, we know that Strix Point will arrive in 2024, featuring a combination of Zen 5 cores and RDNA 3.5 integrated graphics. AMD's notebook roadmap from last year pointed to an "advance node" for Strix Point, likely the same 4nm node for Phoenix Point or something newer. Like AMD's mobile Ryzen 7040 series (Phoenix Point) chips, Strix Point will also have the Artificial Intelligence Engine (AIE) at its disposal. Some gossip is floating around hardware circles that Strix Point may potentially arrive in two variants: one with a monolithic die design and another with a chiplet design. However, we haven't seen any proof to confirm or deny the rumors.
A Ryzen 8000 processor (via Benchleaks) has entered the MilkyWay@home database, a popular place to find unreleased AMD and Intel chips. Given the timing, it's evidently an engineering sample. The processor currently lacks a retail name and only sports the "100-000000994-03_N" identifier. The Strix Point chip reportedly belongs to AMD's Family 26 Model 32 Stepping 0 household. Family 25 comprises Zen 3, Zen 3+, and Zen 4 processors. Logically, Family 26 should be for Zen 5.
MilkyWay@home is far from a processor benchmark, so we don't get any meaningful information besides the fundamental specifications. For example, this particular Ryzen 8000 processor has 24 threads, meaning it's a 12-core part. The chip seemingly implies that Strix Point is receiving a core bump compared to Phoenix Point, which maxed out at eight cores.
Strix Point is a mobile processor. The desktop equivalent should be Granite Ridge, which also debuts in 2024. AMD confirmed in a recent webcast that Ryzen 8000, which has Zen 5 cores and Navi 3.5 graphics, will slot into the AM5 socket.
AMD hasn't shared an exact date on when Strix Point will make it to the market. Nonetheless, 2024 will be another exciting year for the mobile market as Zen 5 is slated to power a new wave of gaming laptops.
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Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.
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bit_user Upgrading their monolithic die APUs to 12 cores seems overdue. For the vast majority of laptop tasks, 8 cores / 16 threads seems ample. But, to compete on those multithreaded benchmarks, and for more intensive work like compiling large software packages, the extra cores should definitely help.Reply -
Avro Arrow After seeing this, I wondered if AMD was in danger of getting sued by ASUS. Then I wondered "WTF is a Strix anyway?" and was kinda surprised by the answer:Reply
"The strix (plural striges or strixes), in the mythology of classical antiquity was a bird of ill omen, the product of metamorphosis, that fed on human flesh and blood. It also referred to witches and related malevolent folkloric beings."
Crazy, eh? :giggle: -
HideOut Keep in mind, a code name is not the marketing name. Media is listing that, AMD is not selling it as that.Reply -
bit_user Reply
The APU's full name is "Strix Point", which sounds like a geographical feature. A "point" is basically a peninsula.Avro Arrow said:After seeing this, I wondered if AMD was in danger of getting sued by ASUS. Then I wondered "WTF is a Strix anyway?" and was kinda surprised by the answer:
"The strix (plural striges or strixes), in the mythology of classical antiquity was a bird of ill omen, the product of metamorphosis, that fed on human flesh and blood. It also referred to witches and related malevolent folkloric beings."
Crazy, eh? :giggle:
Presumably, there's actually a place called "Strix Point", somewhere in the world, but I can't seem to find it because all my search results are for the APU.
BTW, there's a genus of Owls called Strix. Perhaps Strix point is so-named because of the owls which are found there.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strix_(bird)