AMD today launched its latest generation of business processors for business PCs, the Ryzen Pro 8000 series, for both desktops and laptops. For now, AMD will be the only CPU vendor to offer AI-powered NPUs for business desktop PCs.
AMD's announcement comes on the heels of Intel's 14th generation vPro platform, which also offers desktop and mobile components. The difference is that Intel has launched vPro refresh based on his AI-devoid “Raptor Lake Refresh” architecture. AMD's Ryzen Pro 8000 series is relatively consistent across both mobile and desktop products. However, not all new Ryzen Pro 8000 mobile or desktop chips include AI support.
If you've read our articles about AMD's Ryzen 8000 mobile CPUs and AMD's corresponding Ryzen 8000 desktop processors, AMD's latest chip lineup should come as no surprise. AMD's latest Ryzen Pro 8000 processors are pretty much the same as the company's consumer offering, with the Ryzen 9 Pro 8945HS (8 cores, 16 threads, up from 4.0 GHz to 5.2 GHz) below. AMD's Ryzen Pro 8000 desktop processors are similar, with Ryzen 8700G (8 cores, 16 threads, bumped from 4.2 GHz to 5.1 GHz) at the top of the stack. The new processors are all 4nm parts based on AMD's Zen 4 architecture.
what's new? Some of AMD's Ryzen Pro 8000 desktop chips offer Ryzen AI, a competitive advantage that AMD is focusing on. (AMD's existing Ryzen 8000 desktop lineup supports Ryzen AI.) The Ryzen Pro lineup also offers an “E” version that reduces the available power envelope from 45-65W to a flat 35W cTDP. now. AMD also touts its advantages in AI and power in the mobile space. For AMD's desktop chips, AMD has added a Pluton security coprocessor to the desktop portion for the first time. Cloud-based remote management capabilities also exist.
HP Elitebook 835 and 845 G11, Lenovo ThinkPad T14 Gen5 and P14 are some of the devices that use the new Ryzen processors.
“All of these processors we're announcing today are pushing the boundaries of AMD's performance and efficiency like never before,” Ronak Shah, AMD's global commercial product marketing manager, said in a briefing with reporters.
AMD's Ryzen Pro 8000 Mobile Processor
AMD refers to its mobile Ryzen 8000 processors as the Ryzen Pro 8040 series of mobile processors, while its desktop chips are referred to as the AMD Ryzen Pro 8000 lineup.
If you've heard this before, please stop. Millions of AI PCs are already shipping, based on a combination of CPUs, GPUs, and (in some cases) NPUs that, if properly coded, can jointly perform AI-specific tasks. . Shah said six out of 10 PCs should be certified as AI PCs by 2026, but there is still no formal definition of the term. The argument is that companies and their sensitive business data may have more demand for AI on local PCs than consumers, especially if Microsoft ultimately decides to run his Copilot on local PCs. There is.
“There is no model for running Copilot infrastructure on-premises or with additional data protection beyond what Microsoft provides,” Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller said in a direct message on Twitter.com. I did. “This highlights why customers need to approach their Copilot with caution and understand that the compliance, data retention and governance conditions provided by Microsoft are all that customers are entitled to.” It shows that there is.
Most of AMD's new Ryzen Pro 8000 mobile chips include Ryzen AI, which is an NPU. Those marked with an asterisk are not.

AMD
According to PCWorld's laptop tests, AMD's mobile Ryzen chips typically perform very well at CPU-specific tasks, in some cases outperforming Intel's mobile Core chips. AMD presented a series of benchmarks demonstrating that its chips running at 15W outperform even 28W Intel Core H-series chips.
For example, in CPU-specific Blender benchmarks, AMD claimed that the Ryzen 7 Pro 8840U outperformed the Intel Core 7 165U by 43 percent and the Intel Core Ultra 165H by 13 percent. In a number of CPU-specific benchmarks, AMD claimed that the Ryzen 9 8945HS outperformed the Core Ultra 9 185H by 5-23%.
However, in Microsoft Office apps, AMD claimed that the Ryzen Pro 8840U outperformed the Core Ultra 7 by an average of 70%.
There aren't many AI-enhanced business applications for the desktop right now. Two main examples are Adobe Photoshop, which performs AI-powered improvements, and Microsoft Teams, which utilizes NPU to power long-lasting, low-power AI features during video calls.
AMD's Shah says a Ryzen 7 Pro 8840U laptop running at 15W can last 7 hours and 21 minutes on a Teams call (using a 56Wh battery), while a Core Ultra 7 165U running at 15W with a 57Wh battery can last 5. It claimed to last for 29 minutes. AMD claimed that its battery life could exceed the Apple M3 laptop by 13 minutes.
AMD also says its Ryzen Pro 8000 mobile chips are generally better at AI.For now, AMD's Ryzen NPUs produce 16 TOPS – or trillion operations per second — (39 total when adding CPU and GPU). That's more than Intel's 14th generation chips' 34 TOPS.
AMD's Ryzen Pro 8000 Desktop Processor
Intel has not officially stated its AI plans for its next Arrow Lake desktop chips. But for now, the Ryzen platform is the only desktop PC platform with AI.
Here is AMD's new desktop Ryzen 8000 processor. AMD claims that they deliver the same or better performance than Intel's Core chips, while consuming significantly less power.
AMD officials did not comment directly on whether the company's new Ryzen 8000 processors would qualify PCs built around them as AI PCs.
“We believe AI PCs require powerful CPU, GPU, and NPU engines, and AMD has been delivering on that for over a year with the Ryzen 7040 and now the 8040 series,” an AMD representative said. said in an email. “At the Advancing AI event in December, he revealed that the next generation 'Strix Point' mobile with XDNA 2 architecture will have up to three processors. [times] Current generation generative AI performance. With this performance, we believe it will continue to be the leading choice for next-generation AI PCs. ”