AMD has finally decided to lift the veil of secrecy on the line of new Ryzen 7040U processors. The chips belong to the Phoenix series, which was first presented back at the January CES 2023 exhibition, but it is the economical U-modification models that allow them to be used in ultra-thin mobile systems and even portable game consoles.

Belonging to the Ryzen 7040 series involves the manufacture of chips using 4nm technology, the use of Zen 4 cores, integrated graphics based on RDNA3, and the presence of a Ryzen AI computing hardware acceleration unit with XDNA architecture.

If the previously presented chips of the Ryzen 7040HS series had a TDP of 35-45 W, then the more economical Ryzen 7040U models achieved a cTDP of 15-30W with a base value of 28W.

At the start, the line includes four models. The flagship – Ryzen 7 7840U – received a functional configuration of 8/16 with operating frequencies of 3.3/5.1 GHz, 24 MB of cache memory (L2+L3), and uses integrated Radeon 780M graphics with 12 CUs with a theoretical computing performance of 8.6 TFLOPS. The recently announced processor for game consoles Ryzen Z1 Extreme became a derivative precisely from the 8-core Ryzen 7 7840U model.

In the new line, the Ryzen 5 series is represented by two 6-core/12-thread models – Ryzen 5 7640U and Ryzen 5 7540U. Both have similar frequency formulas and are equipped with Radeon 760M graphics with 8 computing units (CU). The main difference between the two is that the older chip in the series also has the Ryzen AI accelerator activated. L2/L3 configuration – 22 MB (6+16 MB).

Finally, the Ryzen 3 7440U has 4 cores with SMT support running at 3.0/4.7 GHz. The processor received 8 MB of cache memory of the third level and 4 MB of L2. The CPU is equipped with Radeon 740M graphics with 4 CU. The basic “console” Ryzen Z1, however, the latter received a 6-core/12-thread configuration typical of the Ryzen 5 7040U.

All Ryzen 7040U chips support the PCI-E 4.0 bus and allow the use of DDR5-5600/LPDDR5x-7500 RAM.

Mobile chips of the Ryzen 7040 series are, as a whole, extraordinary solutions that combine AMD’s most advanced developments – Zen 4 computing cores, RDNA 3 graphics, and Ryzen AI. Here you can also add a monolithic crystal, which is manufactured according to the norms of the 4 nanometer technological process at TSMC plants.

AMD pays special attention to increasing the power of the new integrated graphics, which allows you to play “heavy” projects even without a discrete video card. The peak computing performance of 8.6 TFLOPS is impressive, even for FP16. In comparison, the PS5 processor provides ~ 20.6 TFLOPS (FP16) and 10.3 TFLOPS (FP32). Of course, the use of DDR5 will significantly limit the capabilities of the mobile platform, but this is already level.

Of course, AMD does not undertake to compare the performance of new processors with stationary game consoles, but to demonstrate an advantage over a direct competitor. In the confrontation between the Ryzen 7 7840U and the Core i7-1360P (4/8+8, TDP 28 W), the advantage of the AMD platform in games ranged from 30% (Dota 2) to 139% (Cyberpunk 2077). Obviously, the Radeon 780M graphics card with 12 CUs (768 computers) is significantly more productive than the Intel Iris Xe Graphics 96E.

According to the results of tests carried out by AMD, the flagship of the Ryzen 7040U line is also significantly ahead of the Intel chip in computing tasks.

When comparing the indicators with those for the Apple laptop based on the M2 processor, the advantage of the platform on the Ryzen 7 7840U is somewhat more modest, but even in this case AMD’s decision looks advantageous. It remains to wait for the appearance of laptops with new CPUs to conduct unbiased tests.

However, there are still no specifics regarding the timing of the appearance of Ryzen 7040U-based laptops. The launch dates for models with more powerful HS versions of processors have already been postponed several times. Initially, models based on them were supposed to appear in March, then in April, and now AMD representatives assure that the corresponding laptops will go on sale in just a few weeks. As for models with more economical U-chips, the developers decided not to specify specific dates here.

Perhaps AMD is preparing a surprise and these models will be available at the same time as laptops with more productive CPU modifications. We assume that the delay may be related to certain limitations on the production of chips using 4-nanometer technology. TSMC’s capacities for the production of silicon wafers of this class are currently at maximum. AMD is looking for options, but the transfer of production requires a lot of preparation time.