More affordable Strix Halo model emerges — Early Ryzen AI Max 385 Geekbench result reveals an eight-core option

AMD Strix Halo Ryzen AI Max — (Image credit: AMD)

We're seeing traces of AMD's more affordable Strix Halo options, with the octa-core Ryzen AI Max 385 marking its debut on Geekbench. Powering the HP ZBook Ultra G1a, Strix Halo appears poised to expand into the mainstream segment with eight and six-core variations. Performance indicators in Geekbench aren't as impressive as we expected, though we shouldn't consider them as definitive due to this being a leak, typical run-to-run variations, and laptop power settings.

CES marked the debut of AMD's flagship APU family this generation, Strix Halo, under the Ryzen AI 300 Max line, for AI/ML developers and gamers. AMD launched four different variants, ranging from 6-16 CPU cores and 16-40 GPU cores, catering to a wide range of consumers. Most of the first and second quarters have been occupied by the premier Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and 390, with mini-PCs costing up to $2,000. Meanwhile, laptops, limited to the HP Zbook Ultra G1a and Asus ROG Flow Z13, exceed the $5,000 price point, fully decked out with 128GB of LPDDR5x RAM.

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In Geekbench, this specific sample of Ryzen AI Max 385 dished out 2,489 points and 14,136 points in the single-core and multi-core categories, respectively. This is considerably slower than comparable samples of the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, hovering in the 2,900-3,000 points territory (single-core). There aren't any signs of thermal throttling, as the CPU averaged between 4.95 GHz and 5 GHz. Still, we shouldn't consider these early benchmarks as definitive, as several variables could be at play here.

The test bench in this case was the aforementioned HP ZBook Ultra G1a with 32GB of LPDDR5x memory. HP's website confirms the existence of such a model, listed at an eye-watering $2,599, with shipments starting tomorrow. As of writing, Asus' Flow Z13 doesn't offer a configuration below the 12-core Ryzen AI Max 390. The Framework Desktop is configurable with the Ryzen AI Max 385, with shipments expected in Q3 (July to September) 2025. Meanwhile, only HP's upcoming Z2 Mini G1a mini workstations sport the entry-level hexacore Ryzen AI Max 380.

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Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

3 Comments Comment from the forums

Notton

I would guess the difference is caused by Cache size.
It's 80MB for 395 and 40MB for 385
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bit_user

Notton said:
I would guess the difference is caused by Cache size.
It's 80MB for 395 and 40MB for 385
That won't affect single-core performance, since a core only has direct access to the L3 cache on its CCD (which is 32 MB, in each case).

Even multi-threaded performance doesn't really benefit from the extra cache, other than a bump when you go from one CCD to two, because what usually matters is the per-core L3 cache.
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usertests

It's an anomalous result, and the graphics performance is where the real action is. Even AI users probably won't care about this SKU unless it's often paired with 64-128 GB and offered significantly cheaper.
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