AMD's Strix Point APUs: A 'Tepid' First Impression on Geekbench, But Don't Count Them Out Yet

Alright, folks, let's talk about the latest buzz in the laptop processor world. AMD's next-generation Strix Point APUs, specifically the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 and its slightly smaller sibling, the Ryzen AI 7 450, have finally started popping up on Geekbench. And, well, the initial reaction? It's been a little... lukewarm, if we're being honest. It's not exactly the earth-shattering debut some enthusiasts might have been dreaming of, but perhaps that's just the nature of early benchmarks, right?

First up, we've got the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470. This chip is packing 12 cores and 24 threads, which sounds mighty impressive on paper. When we look at its single-core performance on Geekbench 6.2, it's hovering somewhere in the 2400-2500 point range. Now, for multi-core, it stretches to about 12,000 to 12,800 points. Compared to its predecessor, the Ryzen 9 8945HS (a Hawk Point chip), that's a modest bump – perhaps around a 15% increase in single-core and a 10-15% jump in multi-core. Not bad, certainly, but not the massive leap one might expect from a new generation.

How does it stack up against the competition? Well, when you pit the Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 against Intel's Core Ultra 9 185H (from the Meteor Lake family), the single-core scores are pretty similar, maybe even a touch lower for AMD in some instances. The multi-core performance for the 470 does edge out Intel's chip slightly, which is good to see, but it's not a runaway victory by any means. It makes you wonder if these early samples are fully optimized, or if AMD is playing a slightly different game this round.

Then there's the Ryzen AI 7 450, which comes with a 10-core, 20-thread configuration. Its Geekbench numbers naturally trail the 470 a bit, sitting in the 2300-2400 range for single-core and 11,000-11,700 for multi-core. Again, decent improvements over the previous generation's equivalent, but nothing that'll have you doing backflips in the aisle.

Now, let's not forget the integrated graphics – the new RDNA 3.5 iGPU. The original article suggests this new graphics solution should perform at least as well as, or even better than, the venerable Radeon 780M. While Geekbench OpenCL scores for these Strix Point chips seem to place them around the 780M's level, some whispers indicate it could be up to 20% faster in other benchmarks like Vulkan or 3DMark Time Spy. So, the graphics side might be a pleasant surprise that Geekbench isn't fully capturing right now.

Of course, a massive part of the 'AI' in Ryzen AI is the XDNA 2 NPU, which is touted to deliver 50 TOPS of AI processing power. Geekbench isn't really the place to showcase that particular muscle, but it's a significant component of these chips, promising to unlock a whole new level of on-device AI capabilities for things like image processing, background blur, and other smart features.

Here's the crucial bit, though: these are, without a doubt, early engineering samples. Performance tends to mature and improve significantly as drivers get refined, firmware gets tweaked, and the chips get closer to their final retail versions. We've seen this time and time again. So, while the initial Geekbench results might feel a little 'meh,' it's far too soon to write off AMD's Strix Point APUs. There's still plenty of potential, and we'll be watching keenly to see how they evolve before they hit the market in full force. Don't be surprised if the final products pack a more substantial punch!