AMD reportedly preparing Ryzen 9 7940HX and 7840HX Dragon Range mobile CPUs with lower clocks

AMD poised to launch new Dragon Range CPUs for high-end laptops

The new SKUs are to feature lower clocks, possibly aiming at even cheaper gaming systems. 

The AMD Ryzen 7045HX series, known as “Dragon Range,” represents a premium lineup of CPUs that combines desktop and mobile features using the Raphael silicon within a mobile package. These CPUs provide gaming laptops with up to 16 Zen4 cores, delivering a significant boost in multi-threading performance compared to the previous generation’s 8-core 6900HX chip. In contrast to the mainstream series, which operates at a default 45W TDP, the HX line offers increased power at 55W.

AMD recently introduced the flagship model in this series, the Ryzen 9 7945HX3D, which boasts 64MB of 3D V-Cache and a total of 128MB of L3 cache. This move indicates AMD’s aspiration to dominate the mobile gaming platform. However, the release of this CPU has been limited to specific systems, and there is minimal interest from laptop manufacturers in making this technology widely available. This is largely due to the CPU’s high cost and the fact that, when paired with the most powerful discrete GPUs, it falls outside the budget of most gamers.

Fortunately, AMD has more Dragon Range CPUs in its lineup, and this portfolio is set to expand in the near future.

“Why is AMD slapping my face again [crying]? They just said Dragon Range wouldn’t be updated next year, but now they’re telling me they’re going to release 7940/7840HX, with specs similar to 7045HX but slightly lower frequencies.

However, it’s still labeled as 7000, which means it’s for 2023, so I guess I can’t really call it a facepalm.”

— 金猪升级包 Golden Pig Upgrade

As per the report, AMD is preparing to unveil two new SKUs: the 16-core Ryzen 9 7940HX and the 12-core Ryzen 9 7840HX, both of which are expected to have slightly lower clock speeds compared to the existing 7945/7845HX models. The source speculates that the use of the Ryzen 7000 branding suggests these are products slated for release in 2023, even though they are anticipated to launch next year. It’s evident that AMD’s product naming strategy has become somewhat convoluted and challenging to decipher.

With the introduction of the Radeon RX7900M mobile GPU featuring Navi 31, AMD is bolstering its presence in the mobile market, offering more options to laptop manufacturers. Hopefully, as AMD continues to expand its product lineup, OEMs will be encouraged to provide new choices for gamers on the go. One noticeable gap in the all-AMD systems is the absence of upper mid-range options, such as the Navi 32-based Radeon RX 7800M/7700M series, which could bring a breath of fresh air to the mobile gaming space.

Intel is also gearing up to release its updated 14th Gen Core-HX series based on Raptor Lake silicon. While no major upgrades are expected, it’s clear that AMD is determined to compete with Intel in the high-profit-margin market, and they’re not willing to cede that ground.

Source: Golden Pig Upgrade