AMD is reportedly testing out its upcoming Strix Halo (not the final name) APU under a 128GB memory configuration. It’s the first time that the chipmaker has tested a consumer-level APU with such a high memory capacity, and one that we’re hearing being done outside of Apple’s own M Series silicon.
Online postings and shipping manifests indicate that AMD’s recent testing point to a new reference platform for Strix Halo. That new platform goes by the code FP11, which is also the socket name. Supposedly, it supports 120W power and the titular 128GB of memory, marking the first time the chipmaker has tested a processor beyond the typical 32GB and 64GB of memory.
According to leaked documents posted on the China-based forum, Chiphell, AMD’s Strix Halo should support a 256-bit memory bus and LPDDR5 RAM running at frequencies of 8000MHz and higher. Unlike Apple’s M Series silicon, the memory itself isn’t built within a single package, meaning that the red CPU and GPU maker will have to accommodate larger internal laptop board designs.
Unlike a dedicated GPU that has its own set of components and power measures, an APU depends on the amount of available memory a system has available to drive the framerates. As a general rule of thumb, the higher the memory capacity, the greater the performance output. Having a higher thermal and power limit helps too, which could explain the 120W TDP listed in the shipping manifest.
The Strix Halo series is expected to ship out with 16 Zen5 cores and up to 40 RDNA3.5 CUs at its highest tier. As far as performance goes, the flagship model could be as powerful as an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, although it is unclear if that is with or without ray-tracing involved.
(Source: Videocardz)
