AMD Ryzen AI 200 'Hawk Point' APUs Set to Challenge Intel's Core Raptor Lake Refresh

AMD Ryzen 200 'Hawk Point Refresh' APU tease: fights Intel Core 200 'Raptor Lake Refresh' CPUs

AMD is reportedly cooking up some new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs to fight a future release of Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs from Intel later this year. In a new post by leaker Golden Pig Upgrade, we're learning that AMD is dropping the "AI" naming from this APU, as the company just launched its new Zen 5-powered Ryzen AI 300 series "Strix Point" APU with an on-board NPU. Golden Pig Upgrade said: "In order to cope with the release of Raptor Lake Refresh, also known as the Core 200 series (not Core Ultra) at the end of the year, AMD plans to rename the current Hawk Point, also known as the 8040 series, to the Ryzen 200 series (not Ryzen AI) next year. I think our A is still conservative and should be renamed Ryzen 300". This new Hawk Point Refresh is a Ryzen 8040 series APU that is being refreshed/rebranded into the Ryzen 200 series, not the Ryzen AI 200 series... so a reverse from the AI processor market for this new Ryzen 200 series APU family. Now, for Intel: I've compiled a list of the last few desktop and laptop CPU generations for AMD and Intel, to show you how confusing it'll be on consumers that don't read tech sites on the daily like TweakTown. AMD with its Ryzen 200 and Ryzen AI 300 series APUs is a little easier than a simple "V" on a CPU meaning something completely different. If you buy a Core Ultra 200 series CPU you're getting a CPU without an NPU, and a refreshed CPU from years ago, while the Core Ultra 200V series CPU is a brand new CPU architecture, massively beefed-up Xe2 "Battlemage" integrated GPU with 50% more performance, and an NPU for AI workloads all made on TSMC's latest 3nm proces node. Another entire series of CPUs from each company only complicates things, as much as it moves inventory. Intel and AMD along with its various OEMs and partners would have a boat load of Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" APUs left in inventory, so a refresh with AMD and its Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" and Intel with its Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" processors would help clear that inventory out, so both companies can concentrate on their AI PC processors that are Copilot+ compliant with 45 TOPS of AI workload performance minimum. We should expect AMD's new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs to feature similar specifications to what is already on the market with Ryzen 8040 series "Hawk Point" APUs. This means we'll get up to 8 cores and 16 threads of CPU power based on the Zen 4 architecture, with up to 8MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, and TDPs between 45W and 54W. The integrated GPU is based on the RDNA 3 GPU architecture, with up to 12 Compute Units inside of the Radeon 780M integrated GPU. Intel has its current-gen Core Ultra 100 series "Meteor Lake" CPUs, its upcoming Core Ultra 200V series "Lunar Lake" CPUs, and its 13th Gen Core "Raptor Lake" and 14th Gen Core "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs on the market. It looks like we'll be seeing the Raptor Lake Refresh make an appearance in the new Core 200 series CPUs according to these new leaks from Golden Pig Upgrade. AMD is expected to launch its new Ryzen 200 series "Hawk Point Refresh" APUs in early 2025, so expect a CES 2025 reveal most likely, while Intel is reportedly launching its new Core 200 series "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs later this year.

AMD Preps Ryzen 200 "Hawk Point Refresh" To Tackle Intel's Core 200 "Raptor Lake Refresh" Laptop CPUs

AMD is reportedly preparing its Ryzen 200 "Hawk Point Refresh" lineup to tackle Intel Core 200 "Raptor Lake Refresh" CPUs for laptops. Missing The AI & The Ultra, Both AMD & Intel Prep Laptop Refreshes With Red Team Going For Hawk Point Refresh "Ryzen 200" & Blue Team Going For Raptor Lake Refresh "Core 200" Series It looks like both AMD & Intel are expected to release refreshes of their existing laptop CPU series for the mobility platforms. Both companies have launched or are on the verge of launching new series such as Ryzen AI 300 "Strix Point" and Core Ultra 200 "Arrow Lake" CPUs but there's still a demand from OEM to clear out existing inventories and what better way than to refresh the lineup under a new name. Starting with the AMD Ryzen 200 series, this lineup will be based on the Hawk Point Refresh CPU family and feature very similar specifications as the existing Ryzen 8040 series. The lineup will max out at 8 cores, and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 core architecture, feature up to 8 MB of L2, and 16 MB of L3 cache in TDPs ranging from 45-54W and will utilize the Radeon 780M iGPU with up to 12 Radeon "RDNA 3" compute units. Given that Microsoft has increased the Copilot+ "AI PC" TOPS requirement to at least 45 TOPS, the chips won't use the "AI" branding as their maximum AI NPU compute is rated at 16 TOPS and the platform is rated at 39 TOPS. Similarly, Intel is also expected to launch a Raptor Lake Refresh which will be a third of its kind with 13th and 14th Gen offerings already out. The new series will be branded under the Core 200 series and not Core Ultra 200 which is reserved for Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake CPUs. These CPUs will top out with up to 14 cores in 6+8 configurations, and offer up to 24 MB of cache and TDPs ranging from 35 to 115W. The iGPU will remain the same 96 EU "Iris Xe" configuration. As for the launch, AMD's Ryzen 200 "Hawk Point Refresh" CPUs will be launching early next year close to the Strix Halo and Krackan releases while Intel's Core 200 "Raptor Lake Refresh" will be launching in the first designs hitting shelves later this year. The laptops will still feature the current generation of GPUs (RTX 40 / RX 7000 / Arc A-Series) with only the next-gen platforms leveraging newer RTX 50 laptop configurations.