Tom’s Hardware shared info on AMD’s Ryzen Z1 series electronic parts for gaming devices, like the Asus ROG Ally, and the new Ryzen 7040U chips for very light laptops. Both chipsets have similar tech, but the manufacturer made special changes for each one to work best in their devices.
Similarities Raise Questions
Silicon fans quickly identified the likeness between the Ryzen Z1 series chips and the mobile/ultraportable 7040U family. The Ryzen Z1 Extreme, for example, has almost identical details to the Ryzen 7 7840U, its ultraportable match. This prompted Andrew E. Freedman at Tom’s Hardware to seek an explanation from AMD. A respected employee, Matthew Hurwitz, acknowledged the similarities between gaming and laptop electronic parts. However, he emphasized that AMD engineers clearly changed the Ryzen Z1 APUs for handheld gaming.
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What Are The Key Differences Between AMD Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen 7040U Processor?
The key difference between the AMD Ryzen Z1 and Ryzen 7040U chips is that the Z1 series doesn’t have the AMD Ryzen AI engine. Hurwitz said they didn’t take it out; they just turned it off for the Z1 series. It’s only on for the high-end Ryzen 7 7840U and the mid-range Ryzen 5 7640U.
Hurwitz confirmed that engineers didn’t remove the XDNA AI machine at the hardware level; instead, they turned off it on the Ryzen Z1 APUs. The feature is only enabled on the high-end Ryzen 7 7840U model and mid-range Ryzen 5 7640U.
These minor differences suggest that AMD and ASUS have saved on growth costs by creating and adopting the slightly adjusted Z1 SoC series. However, Hurwitz stressed the importance of the personalization work carried out by AMD engineers for the handheld gaming market.
We might learn more about AMD and ASUS working together at the Asus ROG Ally event on May 11. This could also show how well the Ryzen Z1 series chips work. AMD’s changes make the Ryzen Z1 series different from the 7040U chips, showing they care about different markets. By making changes for each market, AMD does well in both gaming devices and very light laptop markets.
