AMD Launches Ryzen PRO 7000 Series Mobile & Desktop Platform

AMD has today announced the launch of its latest generation Ryzen PRO desktop and notebook platform, featuring Ryzen PRO 7040 processors. This launch brings the Zen 4 architecture to AMD’s business-oriented Ryzen platform, providing more performance, better efficiency, improved battery-life, and the introduction of the Ryzen AI engine.

Recent years have proven that the hybrid working model isn’t going anywhere, and that’s led to launches like this Ryzen PRO one where both mobile and desktop processors are launching together. We’re not sure if market availability will play out the same way, but we’re hoping so.

With six Ryzen PRO 7040 models available for mobile, and only three for desktop, it’s clear to see where current market priorities lay. Six models for mobile may make it seem like some would be really low-end, but not so. All of these models are either 6- or 8-core, and can reach peak clock speeds of around 5GHz:

The “HS” models are the highest-performing of the bunch, while the “U” models target the thinnest, lowest-power notebook designs. One of the primary differences between the mobile and desktop SKUs is that the latter include more cache. That can be easily seen as we look at the desktop models next:

It’s interesting to see a desktop processor launch that involves only three models, but each are laser-focused at a different performance target, with 6, 8, and 12 core counts covered. These desktop parts clock a bit higher than the mobile variants. Those using their work PC for more modest means would get by easily with the Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, while those with heavier workloads (encoding, rendering) as part of their workflow will benefit from the higher-end Ryzen 7 PRO 7745 and Ryzen 9 PRO 7945 models.

We can’t have a launch without competitive comparisons, can we? AMD provides those below, with its Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U going up against select Intel current-gen SKUs:

In a more direct comparison against the Intel Core i7-1370P, AMD claims to be 12% faster, use 15% less power, and offer 29% better perf/watt when using Microsoft Office or video conferencing software.

On the topic of improved battery-life, it’s not often we see Apple mentioned during an AMD announcement, but we do see a comparison here:

AMD’s Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U can apparently beat the battery-life of Apple’s most power-efficient chip, which was somehow managed even on a smaller battery. What might stand out most here is how much Intel is lagging behind. We wish we had the capability to run the same tests on the same notebooks!

In other slides, AMD went further with its Apple M2 Pro comparisons, claiming Ryzen 7 PRO 7840U is 5% faster in Cinebench R23 single-thread (+3% MT), 18% faster in Passmark 11 CPU Mark, and up to 6% faster geomean.

Part of Ryzen PRO’s allure is the attention to security, with each generation improving what’s there, and adding new functionality in. Ryzen PRO 7040 series uses AMD Shadow Stack to thwart control flow attacks, AMD Memory Guard to protect data in the event of a theft, and AMD Secure Processor, which validates code before it’s executed.

A major addition to the Ryzen PRO 7040 series is Ryzen AI, an engine integrated into the CPU that accelerates – you guessed it – AI tasks. This engine already integrates with Windows Studio Effects to seamlessly blur backgrounds, utilize auto-framing, and handle eye gaze correction. AMD says that this engine will accelerate future AI tasks, as well, whatever they may be:

Overall, AMD’s Ryzen PRO 7040 processors deliver some great upgrades across many areas, and if you want to get your hands on one, you hopefully won’t have to wait too long. As of the time of writing, we can’t remember hearing about an expected launch date, but we’ll update this post once we spot one.

While mobile was a huge focus of this launch, AMD specifically drew attention to the fact that AM5-based motherboards can be had on the market for affordable prices, which suggests the desktop Ryzen PRO parts will end up becoming available at etail. We don’t remember seeing the previous generation Ryzen PROs in anything but OEM builds, so this is a nice change.