AMD’s Game-Changing Chip Lineup Steals the Show at CES 2025: A New Era for Laptops, Desktops, and Gaming Handhelds!

At CES 2025 in Las Vegas, AMD introduced a variety of new chips meant for devices from desktops to gaming handhelds.

AMD enters this year’s CES with strong momentum. The firm secured a 28.7% stake in the desktop CPU market during Q3 2024, marking an increase of 9.6 percentage points from the same quarter last year. In the mobile sector, AMD captured 22.3% of the chip market as of last Q3, a rise of 2.8 percentage points compared to the preceding fiscal period.

Nonetheless, the company is not complacent. AMD’s strategy for 2025 is bold and multifaceted — beginning with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D.

Targeted at “gamers and creators,” the 9950X3D features 16 cores based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture, with clock speeds reaching up to 5.7GHz. The company’s benchmarks indicate that the 9950X3D delivers 8% improved performance on average in popular titles such as Hogwarts Legacy and Starfield compared to AMD’s 7950X3D.

The 9950X3D, together with the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, which is a more affordable processor with 12 cores and a maximum clock speed of 5.5GHz, is projected to be released sometime in Q1 2025, as stated by AMD.

In conjunction with the Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D, AMD has also revealed a new “Fire Range” portfolio of chips aimed at midrange laptops and ultraportables. Set to debut in the first half of 2025, this series — comprising the Ryzen 9 9850HX, 9955HX, and 9955HX3D — features 12 to 16 cores with clock speeds ranging from 5.2GHz to 5.4GHz at peak performance.

Significantly, the Fire Range processors consume approximately ~54 W of power — which is less than one-third of the power requirement for the 9950X3D (170 W).

AI PC chips

To facilitate the upcoming generation of Copilot+ PCs — which include laptops and compact desktops featuring AI-enhanced Windows 11 capabilities — AMD is set to launch new and updated processor families: the Ryzen AI 300 series and Ryzen AI Max series.

All chips within these series are equipped with a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) to expedite specific AI tasks, such as executing a text-summarizing language model or Windows 11’s AI-fueled image editing tool.

The Ryzen 300 series processors will hit the shelves in Q1/Q2 2025, featuring between 6 and 8 cores with speeds up to 5GHz and offering an impressive “24-plus-hour” battery life under optimal conditions (e.g., light workloads). There are four SKUs available: Ryzen AI 7 350, Ryzen AI 5 340, Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350, and Ryzen AI 5 Pro 340.

Regarding Ryzen AI Max, it stands as AMD’s premier solution for Copilot+ PCs, featuring between 6…

and 16 cores operating at speeds up to 5.1GHz, combined with integrated graphics and an updated memory interface. AMD asserts that the Ryzen AI Max chips are capable of delivering exceptional 3D rendering and AI application performance.

The series includes SKUs like the Ryzen AI Max+ 395, Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395, Ryzen AI Max 390, Ryzen AI Max Pro 390, Ryzen AI Max 385, Ryzen AI Max Pro 385, and Ryzen AI Max Pro 380 — all expected to debut starting in Q1/Q2.

Aiming at more economical, “mainstream” devices, AMD also introduced the new Ryzen 200 series of processors. These chips — with most featuring NPUs — consist of 6 to 8 cores operating at up to 5.2GHz, and are anticipated to launch in Q2 2025.

Handheld processors

Handheld PCs, such as Valve’s Steam Deck, continue to represent a significant growth sector for AMD. In this context, the semiconductor manufacturer unveiled new processors in its Ryzen Z2 lineup, specifically designed for lightweight and gaming-centric configurations.

Included are the Ryzen Z2 Go, equipped with four cores running at up to 4.3GHz and 12 graphics cores, and the Ryzen Z2 Extreme, featuring eight cores clocked at up to 5.0GHz and 16 graphics cores. These join the eight-core Ryzen Z2, which peaks at 5.1GHz and includes 12 graphics cores.

All three Ryzen Z2 SKUs are expected to become available in Q1 2025.

Graphics cards

Lastly, AMD disclosed its upcoming range of discrete, desktop-oriented GPUs: the Radeon RX 9070 XT and Radeon RX 9070. These are built on the company’s RDNA 4 framework, a 4nm architecture that AMD claims offers enhanced ray tracing efficiency, superior media encoding quality, and augmented AI acceleration.

The RX 9070 XT and RX 9070 cards will be accessible from manufacturers like Acer, Asus, Gigabyte, and XFX in Q1 2025.

AMD emphasized its FidelityFX Super Resolution 4.0 upscaling technology, designed, as they claim, specifically for RDNA 4 hardware. Super Resolution 4.0 utilizes AI algorithms to upscale gaming content up to 4K resolution with minimal lag, according to AMD.

In a related update, AMD Adrenalin, the software allowing users to manage and fine-tune their AMD hardware, including Radeon graphics cards, now boasts new AI capabilities. Adrenalin can generate images using an integrated image creation model, apply a local language model to summarize documents such as PDFs, and provide answers to AMD-related inquiries via an AI-enhanced chatbot interface.