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AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 vs AMD Ryzen AI Max 390

AMD Ryzen AI Max 385

► remove from comparison AMD Ryzen AI Max 385

The AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 is a powerful Strix Halo family processor that debuted in January 2025. The APU comes equipped with 8 Zen 5 CPU cores running at up to 5.0 GHz, the 32 CU RDNA 3+ Radeon 8050S graphics adapter and the 50 TOPS XDNA 2 neural engine. Other noteworthy features include PCIe 4, USB 4 and LPDDR5x-8000 RAM support.

Architecture and Features

Unlike it is with Strix Point, Strix Halo parts are powered by Zen 5 cores - no Zen 5c here. It's not clear if this is the desktop Zen 5 implementation with full AVX512 throughput or the mobile one. According to AMD, Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC improvement over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.

Elsewhere, the AI Max chip supports RAM as fast as LPDDR5x-8000, and is natively compatible with USB 4 (and therefore Thunderbolt). It has PCIe 4.0 support for a throughput of 1.9 GB/s per lane, just like its 8000 series predecessors had. The integrated XDNA 2 NPU delivers up to 50 INT8 TOPS for accelerating various AI workloads. The CPU's L3 cache is fairly large at 32 MB. That being said, the higher-end 390 and 395 AI Max chips have twice the amount.

Performance

Its CPU performance should be about as good as the fastest Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, like the X1E-84-100.

Graphics

The Radeon 8050S sports 32 RDNA 3+ architecture CUs (2048 unified shaders) that could see it competing with entry-level and mid-range desktop graphics cards like the Radeon RX 7700 XT. This GPU will undoubtedly run any game at 1080p on Ultra, however, the ultimate question is whether or not the cooling solution of the laptop will be powerful enough to let the iGPU shine.

Naturally, the Radeon is capable of driving four SUHD 4320p60 monitors. It can also efficiently encode and decode the most popular video codecs including AVC, HEVC, VP9 and AV1. The latest addition to that list, the VVC codec, is not supported unlike it is with Intel Lunar Lake chips.

Power consumption

The AI Max 385 can eat up to 120 W depending on the system and its TDP power targets, with 45 W named as the minimum TDP.

The 4 nm TSMC process that the CPU cores are built with make for decent, as of Jan 2025, energy efficiency.

AMD Ryzen AI Max 390

► remove from comparison AMD Ryzen AI Max 390

The AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 is a powerful Strix Halo family processor that debuted in January 2025. The APU comes equipped with 12 Zen 5 CPU cores running at up to 5.0 GHz, the 32 CU RDNA 3+ Radeon 8050S graphics adapter and the 50 TOPS XDNA 2 neural engine. Other noteworthy features include PCIe 4, USB 4 and LPDDR5x-8000 RAM support and a whole lot of L3 cache.

Architecture and Features

Unlike it is with Strix Point, Strix Halo parts are powered by Zen 5 cores - no Zen 5c here. It's not clear if this is the desktop Zen 5 implementation with full AVX512 throughput or the mobile one. According to AMD, Zen 5 delivers a 16% IPC improvement over Zen 4 thanks to branch prediction improvements and other refinements.

Elsewhere, the AI Max chip supports RAM as fast as LPDDR5x-8000, and is natively compatible with USB 4 (and therefore Thunderbolt). It has PCIe 4.0 support for a throughput of 1.9 GB/s per lane, just like its 8000 series predecessors had. The integrated XDNA 2 NPU delivers up to 50 INT8 TOPS for accelerating various AI workloads.

Performance

Its CPU performance should be about 10% higher than that of the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and HX 375 due to the AI Max chip's higher TDP power target and lack of cut-down Zen 5c cores.

Graphics

The Radeon 8050S sports 32 RDNA 3+ architecture CUs (2048 unified shaders) that could see it competing with lower mid-range desktop graphics cards like the Radeon RX 7700 XT. This GPU will undoubtedly run any game at 1080p on Ultra, however, the ultimate question is whether or not the cooling solution of the laptop will be powerful enough to let the iGPU shine.

Naturally, the Radeon is capable of driving four SUHD 4320p60 monitors. It can also efficiently encode and decode the most popular video codecs including AVC, HEVC, VP9 and AV1. The latest addition to that list, the VVC codec, is not supported unlike it is with Intel Lunar Lake chips.

Power consumption

The AI Max 390 can eat up to 120 W depending on the system and its TDP power targets, with 45 W named as the minimum TDP.

The 4 nm TSMC process that the CPU cores are built with make for decent, as of Jan 2025, energy efficiency.

ModelAMD Ryzen AI Max 385AMD Ryzen AI Max 390
CodenameStrix HaloStrix Halo
SeriesAMD Strix Halo/Point (Zen 5/5c, Ryzen AI 300)AMD Strix Halo/Point (Zen 5/5c, Ryzen AI 300)
Series: Strix Halo/Point (Zen 5/5c, Ryzen AI 300) Strix Halo
AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 compare3 - 5.1 GHz16 / 32 cores64 MB L3
AMD Ryzen AI Max 3903.2 - 5 GHz12 / 24 cores64 MB L3
AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 « 3.6 - 5 GHz8 / 16 cores32 MB L3
AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 compare3 - 5.1 GHz16 / 32 cores64 MB L3
AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 « 3.2 - 5 GHz12 / 24 cores64 MB L3
AMD Ryzen AI Max 3853.6 - 5 GHz8 / 16 cores32 MB L3
Clock3600 - 5000 MHz3200 - 5000 MHz
L2 Cache8 MB12 MB
L3 Cache32 MB64 MB
Cores / Threads8 / 16
8 x 5.0 GHz AMD Zen 5
12 / 24
12 x 5.0 GHz AMD Zen 5
TDP55 Watt55 Watt
Technology4 nm4 nm
SocketFP11FP11
FeaturesLPDDR5x-8000 RAM, PCIe 4, USB 4, XDNA 2 NPU (50 TOPS), SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4ALPDDR5x-8000 RAM, PCIe 4, USB 4, XDNA 2 NPU (50 TOPS), SMT, AES, AVX, AVX2, AVX512, FMA3, MMX (+), SHA, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, SSE4A
iGPUAMD Radeon RX 8050S ( - 2800 MHz)AMD Radeon RX 8050S ( - 2800 MHz)
Architecturex86x86
Announced
Manufacturerwww.amd.comwww.amd.com

Benchmarks

3DMark - 3DMark Time Spy CPU
5571 Points (23%)

Average Benchmarks AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 → 0% n=0

- Range of benchmark values for this graphics card
red legend - Average benchmark values for this graphics card
* Smaller numbers mean a higher performance
1 This benchmark is not used for the average calculation

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Redaktion, 2017-09- 8 (Update: 2023-07- 1)