Reports have indicated that AMD is developing a scaled-up version of its Strix Point APU lineup, the upcoming AMD Ryzen AI Max. Details have been scarce until now, but a recently leaked benchmark has confirmed an earlier report that Asus will launch a 2-in-1 gaming laptop built around a high-end APU.
A new Geekbench listing reveals that the 2025 Asus ROG Flow Z13 will be equipped with the AMD Ryzen AI Max APU, also known as Strix Halo. AMD is expected to announce its new flagship laptop processors, along with other products, at CES in January.
Asus's new device carries the most powerful configuration from AMD's upcoming Ryzen Max family: the Max+ 395 with Radeon 8060S integrated graphics. Running at 3GHz, this 16-core, 32-thread APU scored 2,894 in single-core and 20,708 in multi-core, compared against earlier Z13 models that used high-end Alder Lake and Raptor Lake CPUs.
Meanwhile, the new device's OpenCL GPU score of 76,961 is fairly close to that of laptops with RTX 4050 and 4060 mobile GPUs. A Vulkan test from a prototype earlier this month also delivered similarly impressive results.
Ryzen AI Max is the high-end version of AMD's Ryzen AI 300 series, expected to power a new generation of laptops and handheld gaming PCs. While the Ryzen AI 9 370, expected to be the foundation of the Z2 Extreme handheld gaming processor, has 12 RDNA 3.5 compute units, the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 raises that number to 40.
The new ROG Flow Z13 was first revealed in a design leak in August, when a source said the CPU would draw up to 30W and the iGPU up to 80W, which would require an improved cooling system. AMD is also expected to announce lower-tier Ryzen AI Max chips such as the Max 385 and Max 380 at CES.
In addition, RDNA 4 will likely make its official debut at the trade show, competing with Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5000 series and Intel's new Arc Battlemage. RDNA 4 aims to significantly improve ray tracing performance over RDNA 3 and marks the first time AMD has implemented an AI-based upscaling technology.
Meanwhile, reports and leaks suggest Intel is developing a response to Strix Halo, called Arrow Lake Halo. These high-end mobile APUs will target the premium laptop workstation market.
Via Techspot
