AMD confirms release plans for Z2 Extreme gaming chip for PC handhelds

AMD confirms Ryzen Z2 Extreme CPU launch plans for early 2025

AMD (via Digital Trends) has confirmed they are working on a new Ryzen Z2 Extreme gaming chip for handheld PC gaming systems. This new CPU is targeting an “early 2025” launch. This makes a CES 2025 reveal likely for the new handheld.

AMD’s Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip uses AMD’s “Phoenix Point” silicon, with eight Zen 4 CPU cores and 12 RDNA 3 GPU compute units. With their upcoming Ryzen Z2 series chips, AMD has the potential to use newer CPU and GPU architectures to power the next generation of gaming handhelds.

Should AMD use its existing “Strix Point” silicon for its new Z2 Extreme chip, it could feature the following specifications: 12 CPU cores (4x Zen 5 + 8x Zen 5c) and 16 RDNA 3.5 GPU compute units. AMD may also opt to use its XDNA 2 NPU with this new handheld design. These changes would give newer AMD handhelds more CPU and GPU performance and may add extra AI compute into the mix.

(Will and ROG Ally 2/X2 launch in 2025?)

AMD’s Ryzen Z2 Extreme will challenge Intel Lunar Lake for mobile supremacy

At IFA 2024, MSI revealed their Intel Lunar Lake-powered Claw 8 AI+ handheld. With Lunar Lake, Intel has promised greater power efficiency and GPU performance than AMD’s Strix Point-powered laptops. This gives AMD’s upcoming Z2 chip a strong competitor, assuming it uses AMD Strix Point silicon. However, AMD may have opted to create a custom chip this time. Certainly, a more custom chip design would help deliver the most performance and efficiency in this market.

Regardless, the introduction of both Ryzen Z2 and Lunar Lake will create a competitive landscape for the handheld PC gaming market. That’s great news for gamers. After all, competition is good.

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