Latest news with #Ryzen
Forbes
10 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
HP ZBook Ultra And AMD Ryzen AI Max: A Mobile Workstation Turning Point
HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 With AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 Right Side View The mobile workstation space is currently undergoing a transformation. Performance is no longer just about brute force, it's about smart silicon, AI acceleration, and doing more in even slimmer, lighter designs. I've been test-driving HP's new ZBook Ultra G1a 14, a relatively thin-and-light 14-inch laptop that combines portability with workstation-grade capabilities and a rather forward-looking processor known as AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395, aka Strix Halo. It's the first ZBook to ship with AMD's latest Ryzen AI-infused silicon, and it's part of a broader ecosystem shift that's rethinking how professionals work on the go. This machine tries to cater to professionals that need responsiveness and raw horsepower, but also unique capabilities for content creation and AI workloads. With the ZBook Ultra, HP may have hit a new sweet spot between traditional power users and the emerging generation of AI-driven developers and creators. HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 With AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 Let's start with the form factor. The ZBook Ultra G1a weighs just 3.46 pounds and measures only about 18 mm thick. It's a far cry from the bulkier mobile workstations of just a few years ago, but don't let the svelte design fool you. This machine meets MIL-STD-810 durability standards, with a magnesium-aluminum chassis that's built to handle field work, studio life, or business travel with ease. The HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14's Keyboard Is Spacious With A Large Trackpad And Comfortable Key Travel The model I've been working with sports a 14-inch 3K OLED display (2880x1800 resolution) and it offers a productivity-friendly 16:10 aspect ratio, wide color gamut support, and anti-glare coating. This is also a 120Hz refresh rate panel for users who want smoother UI interactions, for motion graphics work or even gaming. It's a gorgeous panel and whether you're sketching designs, editing code, or reviewing renders, this panel delivers on accuracy, clarity and responsiveness. HP also offers an FHD 1920x1200 standard refresh rate panel option as well, and that display will undoubtedly offer the best battery life for the machine. Despite its thin build, HP squeezes in a full suite of ports for the machine as well, including two USB-C ports (USB4), two USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and a headphone jack—plus support for Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The machine also has a nano security lock slot and TPM 2.0 support for IT-managed deployments. AMD Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 Processor What makes this ZBook more than just a premium ultra-portable is what's powering it. The Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 processor (yes that's a mouthful) from AMD represents the company's most advanced laptop silicon to date. Built on its latest Zen 5 CPU architecture, this 8-core/16-thread chip pushes clocks up to 5.1 GHz, but its triple-engine config and unified memory architecture (as I've covered in the past) are what sets it apart. The CPU, GPU, and Neural Processing Unit each play a distinct role in workload acceleration, but the chip's integrated GPU has access to a very large, contiguous memory pool, up to 96GB in total in the configuration I'm testing currently. You can configure the machine's BIOS settings to carve out up to 96GB from main system memory, if you have that much installed in the ZBook Ultra. Obviously, for lower-end configs, you'll have less memory available for this. Regardless, as a result, large language models that otherwise would be relegated to the cloud can run locally on this machine, taking advantage of its copious memory footprint and GPU accelerator. Meanwhile, the processor's NPU delivers over 50 TOPS of AI throughput, enabling on-device acceleration for light duty gen AI models, image enhancement, video conference background removal and tracking, voice transcription, etc. All in, these are the kind of hardware resources that can reshape creative workflows, productivity, AI development and real-time collaboration. HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 Left Side Ports Include Full-Sized HDMI, Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-C 10Gbps And ... More A Headphone Jack HP's ZBook Ultra 14 ships with up to 128GB of LPDDR5x-8533MHz memory (soldered to the motherboard), and up to 4TB of PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD storage. The machine's boot time is very quick, app switching is fluid, and there's enough bandwidth to handle simultaneous VMs, creative suites, or data-heavy AI dev environments that need to support the latest LLMs. Paired with integrated AMD Radeon 8060S graphics, the ZBook Ultra offers excellent graphics performance for its weight class as well. With roughly the horsepower of discrete GeForce RTX 4060 Ti or 4070 class mobile GPU, it handles CAD, GPU-accelerated AI inference, 3D workloads and gaming with surprising headroom. In fact, this is currently the fastest integrated graphics solution on the market for laptops, and for many users that could be a game-changer in a machine that weighs in at just a shade over 3 pounds. We ran a battery of performance benchmarks on the ZBook Ultra, comparing it against Intel Lunar Lake, Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered systems and older AMD Ryzen mobile platforms. Here's how HP's Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395-powered ZBook Ultra 14 fared: HP ZBook Ultra G1a Speedometer 3 Benchmark Results HP ZBook Ultra G1a Cinebench 2024 Benchmark Results HP ZBook Ultra G1a MLPerf Client Benchmark Results HP ZBook Ultra G1a Ul Procyon AI Machine Vision Benchmark Results These scores reflect not just a leap in performance from previous HP ZBook laptops powered by AMD, but also a big competitive edge against Intel Core Ultra and Qualcomm Snapdragon systems with integrated GPUs. The AI inference benchmarks in particular show strong results, especially for a device that doesn't rely on a discrete GPU like the ROG Zephyrus G14 in the Procyon AI benchmark. In terms of content creation, the new HP ZBook Ultra 14's Ryzen AI Max+ processor is an absolute mobile beast when it comes to multithreaded workloads, with respectably strong single-threaded performance to boot. HP ZBook Ultra G1a F1 24 Gaming Benchmark Results In terms of gaming, if you like to kick back after a hard day's grind of coding or designing, the ZBook Ultra G1a can also deliver here too, with the most powerful integrated GPU on the market for Windows laptops currently, as evidenced in this F1 24 racing simulation benchmark test. LM Studio Running Meta's Llama 3 8b Large Language Model I was also able to take the machine for a spin with LMStudio, successfully loading up Meta's Llama 3 8b Instruct large language model for a quick, amusing tutorial on how to solve a Rubik's Cube. I was able to realize a time to first token of .18 seconds or so, with a total token throughput of around 27.34 tokens per second, which is pretty snappy. All of this was running locally on the HP ZBook Ultra G1a, without the need to tap the cloud for processing. Thermal performance is another high point for the new ZBook. HP's cooling solution keeps the system within reasonable skin temps even under sustained load. Fan noise stays reasonable, and we observed relatively tame (less than 15%) thermal throttling during repeated Cinebench runs. HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 Video Playback Battery Life Test Results Battery life isn't exactly a strong suit for a machine this powerful, especially with the 3K OLED panel option we tested, but in our local video loop battery rundown test, the HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 chalked up about 6.25 hours of continuous uptime. This puts the machine more in the territory of thin and light gaming laptops, though if you want to reclaim some battery life, going with the 1200p IPS display option would offer better durability. HP ZBook Ultra G1a 14 With AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ 395 Processor The HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a doesn't just raise the bar for what's possible in a thin-and-light modern mobile workstation, it redefines it. Though it's not cheap--starting at $2599 and $4049 currently as tested with 128GB of LPDDR5x, a 2TB SSD, the OLED display and AMD's Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 395 under the hood--this machine delivers performance traditionally reserved for much bulkier machines with discrete graphics. It's also is a very capable AI workhorse, whether you take advantage of its integrated NPU or integrated GPU and its bodacious unified memory architecture. For engineers, designers, content creators, and developers who need powerful, efficient, and AI-aware computing on the go, the ZBook Ultra G1a 14 is more than up to the task. It's class-leading for its size and weight and it's a truly unique, breakout product among commercial mobile workstations.
Digital Trends
3 days ago
- Business
- Digital Trends
Torn between a Macbook Air and Pro? I'd recommend something totally different
Earlier this year, Dell went for a rebrand that axed some of its most recognizable product families, such as XPS and Latitude. Instead, the company went with a simplified naming scheme, which is still a tad confusing. The makeover ran deeper than the surface, though. The sharp XPS charm rode into the sunset, and so did a bunch of other aesthetic elements that helped Dell machines stand out. Instead, the company is now riding with a more generalist industrial look that focuses more on productivity instead of setting new heft and thickness records. Recommended Videos One of the first products to come out of the 'new' identity was the Dell Plus 16, which earned praise for its solid performance, clean design, and fantastic keyboard. I recently got my hands on the Dell Pro 14, which starts lower than its Plus sibling, but can eclipse it as you take the internal upgrade route. After giving it a run as my primary workhorse for a couple of weeks, it emerged as a solid workhorse that serves plenty of firepower and practical perks. But most importantly, it sits at the sweet middle-ground spot where it surpasses the MacBook Air without the high premium of a MacBook Pro. A practical workhorse The Dell Pro 14 Pro configuration I tested comes armed with 32GB of RAM, 512GB storage, and AMD's Ryzen AI 7 Pro (350) processor. That kind of memory upgrade would set you back by $1,480 on the MacBook Air, while the baseline MacBook Pro with the entry-level M4 processor will have you spending $2,000 at the very least. For comparison, the Dell machine I tested will cost you around $1,400 while doubling the internal storage to 1 TB. Now, saving a few hundred dollars is a relief in itself. In addition to the cost savings, you also get a handful of other benefits, and the most notable among them all is a diverse port selection. None of Apple's laptops go beyond a typical USB-C input and an HDMI port, which is exclusive to the MacBook Pro. On the Dell Pro, you get a pair of USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4.0 ports with power delivery and display-out capabilities. Additionally, the Dell machine also offers an equal number of USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports with PowerShare. Finally, you also get a dedicated HDMI 2.1 port and a gigabit-class Ethernet port, too. The USB-C ports are special as they ditch the soldered format and adopt a screwed aproach. The result is a modular design that offers four times higher twist resistance and nearly 33 times better impact resistance compared to the erstwhile Latitude series business laptops. The modular engineering also opens the doors for better repairability, too. I also love the privacy and security kit on this one. In addition to a fingerprint sensor, you also get an IR camera array at the top for Windows Hello facial recognition. In my time with the laptop, both the authentication measures worked just fine. I prefer face unlock to be the more seamless approach for identity verification on laptops, especially when you are dealing with features such as Windows Recall or other workflows where you often run into the authentication firewall. For a business laptop that is running enterprise software, such conveniences matter a lot. There's also a physical privacy shutter at the top to cover the FHD webcam for extra security. Plenty of silicon firepower Dell has made a rather curious choice with the processor inside its 14-inch business laptop. The variant I had for testing comes armed with an AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 processor. Now, this family of processors was introduced earlier this year, but they don't offer the best or latest from AMD's inventory. That distinction goes to the AMD Ryzen AI Max family of processors in the Strix Point series, while the AMD Ryzen AI and its Pro variations fall within the older Krackan Point family. That doesn't mean the Krackan Point silicon is a laggard, even though it sticks with a slightly less powerful integrated graphics chip. On the Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350, you get four Zen 5 cores and an equal number of Zen 5c efficiency cores. The peak clock speed goes up to 5GHz, while graphics performance is handled by the Radeon 860M iGPU. The NPU can deliver over 50 TOPS, higher than the baseline Microsoft has set for offering next-gen AI features on Copilot+ PCs. The performance chops are worth a note. On Cinebench (R24), it fared better than Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V Lunar Lake processor by a margin of around 12%, though it can't quite match the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or Apple's M4 silicon. On Geekbench, it again performed better than its Intel rival access the single-core and multi-core metrics, and even surpassed Qualcomm's silicon. However, the Zen 5 series is still over 20% slower compared to Apple's M4 silicon. At multi-core output, the gap is much smaller and falls within the 7% performance gap. Running a mixed workload at the Blender BMW27 rendering test, the AMD silicon fared much better than Intel's Core Ultra 7 258V, while the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite lags further behind due to the weak onboard Adreno GPU. On 3DMark, however, Intel's Arc graphics took the lead over AMD's Radeon 860M unit. As far as practical workflows go, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 is a fairly capable processor. For business consumers, it offers more firepower than they would need for handling Office and Workspace chores. It should also handle coding workflows fairly well and short-form video edits. My work was separated across Chrome (three windows, 12-15 tabs each), Slack, Trello, Teams, Photoshop, and Spotify. The Dell Pro 14 barely ever stuttered. Moreover, I never had to shift gears and raise the fan speed for an extra dash of cooling or contend with throttling issues. With the same workflow, the upper portion of my M4 MacBook Air's keyboard regularly runs hot and stutters are felt, especially with Chrome hogging the system resources. A few hits and misses The most perplexing element of the Dell Pro 14 is its chassis. The keyboard is fantastic, with lovely spacing, good travel, and a fantastic springy feedback. It's a joy to type a few thousand words without feeling any fatigue. The clicky trackpad gets the job done, but I wish it were the haptic type. The full-HD display is also acceptable, but not as sharp as its Apple competition. What I love about it is the anti-glare coating on top, though the machine is also available in touch-sensitive display variants. I wish it were brighter, but in a closed space, I was able to comfortably work on it at roughly 40% brightness levels. The Dell Pro 14 comes with up to a 55-Whr battery, which delivers good mileage paired with a 14-inch FHD display and a fairly power-efficient processor. Dell says the laptop should last up to 15 hours on a single charge, while fast charging ensures that you get up to 80% juice with an hour of plugged-in time. During my tests, it went up to 11.5 hours of sustained work, which is not bad, though still a fair bit behind Windows on Arm machines like the Asus ZenBook A14 or the MacBook Air. The power draw is worryingly high, however, when the fan profile has been set to its peak value under load and brightness levels are set above the 70% mark. Then there's the build quality. The Dell Pro 14 weighs slightly above the MacBook Air, but it's much lighter than the MacBook Pro. It's a joy to carry around, but keep in mind it's thicker than its Apple or Windows competition in the segment. The industrial looks are married to a polycarbonate shell. But there is a worrying amount of flex. Though it doesn't hurt the typing experience, you can easily press the deck. The same goes for the top lid, and you can even feel the hinge area pressing down. The Dell Pro 14 doesn't feel cheap. Far from it, actually. But I wish Dell went with a slightly stiffer material, or even a metallic shell to give it a more premium material befitting the sticker price. Overall, if your primary concern is a productivity workhorse that handles performance and practicality, but can't quite absorb the Apple tax, the Dell 14 Pro is a great choice. And for its target business audience, it's almost a no-brainer.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HSBC Upgrades Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Stock to Hold, Lifts PT
On May 28, HSBC upgraded the rating on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) stock from Sell to Hold, increasing its price target from $75 to $100. Frank Lee from HSBC made this upgrade on AMD, citing the recent Saudi Arabia AI deal and easing of tariff tensions to be a positive development for the company. AMD posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2025, driven by upbeat growth in the data center revenue. The Q1 results have revived investor sentiment for AMD stock. AMD posted a 36% increase in its Q1 revenue compared to the same period a year ago, reaching $7.4 billion. The revenue was driven by robust growth in the data center and client segments. The company experienced a 55% growth in net income, fueled by a higher percentage of data center product sales and a robust Ryzen processor mix. Data center segment revenue soared nearly 57% year-over-year, with major contributions from EPYC CPU and Instinct AI accelerator sales. Lee sees potential upside for AMD in the future from the deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The analyst also cited that AMD is 'appealing in terms of long-term total addressable market (TAM) opportunity.' Lee is optimistic about AMD's upcoming AI chips and said that the company can gain from the new product launches, getting in a position to fight competition from Intel. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a global semiconductor company focused on high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. AMD operates four segments, including Data Center, Client, Gaming, and Embedded. While we acknowledge the potential of AMD to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMD and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. Read Next: and . Disclosure. None. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
HSBC Upgrades Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Stock to Hold, Lifts PT
On May 28, HSBC upgraded the rating on Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) stock from Sell to Hold, increasing its price target from $75 to $100. Frank Lee from HSBC made this upgrade on AMD, citing the recent Saudi Arabia AI deal and easing of tariff tensions to be a positive development for the company. AMD posted better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2025, driven by upbeat growth in the data center revenue. The Q1 results have revived investor sentiment for AMD stock. AMD posted a 36% increase in its Q1 revenue compared to the same period a year ago, reaching $7.4 billion. The revenue was driven by robust growth in the data center and client segments. The company experienced a 55% growth in net income, fueled by a higher percentage of data center product sales and a robust Ryzen processor mix. Data center segment revenue soared nearly 57% year-over-year, with major contributions from EPYC CPU and Instinct AI accelerator sales. Lee sees potential upside for AMD in the future from the deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The analyst also cited that AMD is 'appealing in terms of long-term total addressable market (TAM) opportunity.' Lee is optimistic about AMD's upcoming AI chips and said that the company can gain from the new product launches, getting in a position to fight competition from Intel. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMD) is a global semiconductor company focused on high-performance computing, graphics, and visualization technologies. AMD operates four segments, including Data Center, Client, Gaming, and Embedded. While we acknowledge the potential of AMD to grow, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and have limited downside risk. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AMD and that has 100x upside potential, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock. Read Next: and . Disclosure. None. Sign in to access your portfolio
Mint
22-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Build your own PC with up to 60% off on CPUs, GPUs, and more: No cost EMI starting at ₹99
There's something uniquely satisfying about building your own PC—choosing every component, from the CPU and GPU to the motherboard, chassis, SSD, and RAM, to fit your needs and style. Now, with up to 60% off on these essentials, that dream setup feels closer than ever. The latest processors and graphics cards promise smooth performance, while speedy SSDs and ample RAM keep everything running effortlessly. A sturdy, stylish chassis ties it all together. With no cost EMI starting at just ₹ 99, even the budget feels lighter. For anyone who enjoys tinkering or wants a machine that truly feels their own, this is a great moment to start building. During the Amazon sale, CPUs from AMD and Intel are available at up to 60% off, making it a great time to build your own PC. As the 'brain' of your computer, CPUs handle all processing tasks, from gaming to multitasking. Choose from powerful Ryzen and Core series processors to boost your system's speed and performance. GPUs, or graphics processing units, handle all visual rendering in your PC, from gaming graphics to video editing and smooth multitasking. During the Amazon sale, top brands like Zebronics, NVIDIA, and ASUS offer GPUs at up to 60% off, making high-performance graphics more accessible. Enhanced frame rates, better visuals, and advanced cooling are now within reach for your build. Motherboards from Zebronics, Consistent, and MSI are available at up to 60% off during the Amazon sale. Motherboards connect your CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage, forming the backbone of your PC build. Options include support for the latest Intel processors, DDR4 memory, multiple SATA and M.2 slots, and robust connectivity features. These brands offer reliable performance and compatibility for gaming, workstations, or everyday use Chassis from Ant, Zebronics, and Frontech are available at up to 60% off during the Amazon sale. These PC cases provide sturdy builds, efficient airflow, and stylish tempered glass panels. Options include pre-installed LED fans, cable management features, and support for various motherboard sizes, making them ideal for both gaming and professional PC builds. Experience lightning-fast performance with SSDs from GEONIX, WD, and Crucial, now at up to 60% off in the Amazon sale. These solid-state drives slash boot times and accelerate data transfers, giving your PC a noticeable speed boost. Choose from high-speed NVMe or dependable SATA options, all trusted for reliability and perfect for gamers, creators, and everyday users. Give your PC a serious speed boost with RAMs from Crucial and Consistent, now up to 60% off during the Amazon sale. More RAM means smoother multitasking, faster load times, and improved performance for gaming, editing, or everyday computing. These trusted brands offer reliable memory options compatible with a wide range of systems, making upgrades simple and effective. Disclaimer: Mint has an affiliate marketing partnership, which means we may get some commission on purchases you make through the retailer sites links provided. These partnerships do not influence our editorial content, which is free from any bias or marketing pitch. We strive to provide accurate and unbiased information to help you make informed decisions. We recommend verifying details with the retailer before making a purchase.
