AMD Expands Ryzen’s Portfolio at CES 2025

AMD has announced a comprehensive lineup of new Ryzen processors at CES 2025. The company also announced multiple upgrades and additions for gaming and AI PCs. 

First up are the new Ryzen AI Max and Max PRO series processors, which the company claims “exceed the demands for high-performance computing in premium thin and light notebooks”. 

AMD also announced a new series of Ryzen 300 and Ryzen 200 processors to enable premium AI experiences across notebooks. 

“With incredible power, performance and compatibility, these news systems exceed expectations for next-generation Copilot+ PCs,” the tech firm said. 

Systems powered by this new lineup of Ryzen AI Max, the Max PRO series and the Ryzen AI 300 processors will be available from Q1 2025. Meanwhile, systems featuring the Ryzen AI 200 processors will be available from Q2 2025.

“With the next generation of AI-enabled processors, we are proliferating AI to devices everywhere and bringing the power of a workstation to thin and light laptops,” said Jack Huynh, senior VP and general manager of computing and graphics at AMD.

But what’s the deal with a capitalised PRO, one may ask? According to AMD, its PRO lineup of technologies provides enterprise-grade manageability and multi-layer security features. 

This features tools like AMD’s Memory Guard, which protects sensitive data through encryption, and tools to help IT administrators manage and troubleshoot systems. 

One of the more notable announcements is its first partnership with Dell, which will integrate their AMD Ryzen AI PRO processors into AI PCs. Dell joins Acer, ASUS, HP, Lenovo, and MSI, which are also planning to integrate AMD’s new processors into AI PCs. 

AI PCs are integrated with the Microsoft Copilot+ feature suite, which enables them to run AI workloads locally without relying on the cloud. 

In order to integrate Microsoft Copilot features in an AI PC, Microsoft requires a minimum of 16 GB of memory, a 256 GB SSD and an NPU capable of processing over 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) while running its world-class SLMs. 

That said, AMD is competing with Qualcomm and Intel to provide processors for AI PCs featuring Microsoft Copliot+. AMD is marginally leading the race with 50 TOPS of AI computing power, while Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite Plus and Intel’s Lunar Lake processors offer 45 TOPS. 

While the three of them battle it out, Microsoft is the winner at the end of the day. 

“It’s been incredible to see AMD and Microsoft’s longstanding partnership move into the next wave of technology, bringing AI innovation to our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partners,” said Pavan Davuluri, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Windows + Devices. 

You can read AIM’s detailed coverage of what an NPU is, what TOPS means for AI PCs and the current market landscape. 

AMD is bullish on AI PCs. “Everyone should have their own AI PC that allows you to run your model locally and operate on your data locally,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said at a fireside chat in IISc Bengaluru a month ago. 

Ideally, AMD will end CES 2025 with a smile, given that all market forecasts are favouring the sales of AI PCs. “We’re projecting AI-enabled PC shipments to grow with a CAGR of 42.1% from 2023 to 2028,” read an IDC report in September of last year. 

Another report from Markets and Markets in October said that the market is projected to grow from $50.61 billion in 2024 to $231.30 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 28.82%. 

Where is NVIDIA, though? The company has stuck to its tradition and is mostly focusing on newer GPUs at CES 2025. NVIDIA announced a new lineup of Blackwell RTX GPUs, with the 5070 series costing as low as $549.

They aren’t in the game of running AI workloads on CPUs and an NPU. Funny enough, the company also criticised the same and reportedly said that an NPU’s capability of processing 40 TOPS is enough for the basic tasks alone. GPUs and NPUs were never meant to be in the same conversation in the first place.