AMD Ryzen 9050 Series APU Emerges with Groundbreaking Benchmarks?

The first benchmark for AMD’s Ryzen 9050 series APU has recently emerged from a public benchmark database, offering an intriguing glimpse into its capabilities. Spotted by Benchleaks, the Geekbench entry for an AMD APU carries the product number 100-000000994-14_N, which is believed to correspond to the Ryzen 9050 APU. This unit is identified as belonging to Family 26 and Model 32, marking it as a member of the anticipated Ryzen 9050 series.

The database entry reveals that the APU is equipped with 12 cores based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It is speculated that eight of these cores are standard Zen 5, while the remaining four are the more compact Zen 5c variant. Notably, the chip seems to be an early engineering sample with a peak clock speed of 2.0GHz, though it was recorded operating at only 1.4GHz during the benchmark tests. This discrepancy raises questions about whether the benchmark fully utilized the chip’s clock speed or if there was an issue with how the speeds were recorded.

In the broader context, rumors had previously circulated about the AMD Ryzen 9050 APU, codenamed Strix Halo. According to these rumors, the Strix Halo APU is set to be a formidable processor, featuring 16 cores and 32 threads powered by next-generation Zen 5 architecture. It is expected to include 1MB of L2 cache per core and 32MB of unified L3 cache per chip die (CCD), with a total of two CCDs. The APU is also anticipated to integrate an advanced XDNA2-based neural processing unit (NPU) for AI tasks, capable of delivering an impressive 60 TOPS of AI performance. This is in addition to an RDNA 3.5-based GPU equipped with 20 Work Group Processors.

High-end specifications continue with support for DisplayPort 2.1 UHBR10 and UHBR20, aligning with the demands of cutting-edge display technologies. Memory support is robust, with compatibility for 256-bit LPDDR5X-8000 memory and a thermal design power (TDP) that starts at 70W but can scale up to 130W.

In contrast, the Strix Point variant will feature a slightly reduced specification, offering 12 cores and 24 threads, alongside a GPU configuration reduced to 8 Work Group Processors, while still maintaining the upgraded RDNA 3.5 architecture. This model is expected to support LPDDR5X-7500 memory, though specifications may evolve as its release nears.

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Although the single-core score of 1217 points for the Ryzen 9050 benchmark may seem modest, the multi-core score is particularly noteworthy, especially given the CPU’s limited operation at 1.4GHz. For perspective, when compared to AMD’s own Ryzen 9 7940HS and the renowned Z1 Extreme processor, this engineering sample demonstrates promising potential, particularly for an APU class processor. If the retail version builds upon these initial results, AMD’s Ryzen 9050 series could indeed mark significant advancements in integrated processing performance.