AMD surpasses Qualcomm in evaluations

The long-awaited Ryzen AI 9 has the HX 370 Asus Zenbook S 16shows what AMD can bring to PCs. AMD is fast, but more importantly efficient and versatile, with its new Zen 5-based processor.

Highlights of Asus Zenbook S 16

The Asus Zenbook S 16 is less than half an inch thick and weighs about 1.5 kg (3.31 pounds). This shows that the device is thinner than the MacBook Pro 16. Moreover, the Asus Zenbook S 16 is about a kilo lighter than the MacBook Pro 16. In fact, the Zenbook S 16 weighs the same as the MacBook Air 15.

The device also stands out with its appearance. Asus Zenbook S 16, which comes in Zumaia Gray and Scandinavian White colors, attracts attention with its diagonal design on the cover and Ceraluminum coating.

Frankly, if we consider that the Zenbook series is the symbol of the progress of Windows laptops, we can say that the S 16 does not break this rule. The device comes with an OLED display that forms the basis of the Zenbook series in devices such as the Zenbook S 13. The 3K display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a frequency of up to 120Hz takes the user experience to the next level.

For connectivity, there is one USB 3.2 Gen 2 port (Type-A) and two USB 4 port Type-C ports. Asus also included a full-size SD card reader, 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI 2.1 port. Wirelessly, Asus even supports Wi-Fi 7.

The ease of use of the keyboard and the size of the trackpad offer a comfortable experience. Those who use Asus Zenbook S 16 state that the device does not make any noise even under intense processing load. However, according to what is stated, the area near the screen gets a little hot.

It is stated that the speakers in the Asus Zenbook S 16 are inadequate when compared to the Zephyrus G16, a 16-inch laptop from Asus. Although the speakers in question produce quite loud sound; lacks low end. However, the sound is focused towards the center of the laptop.

Ryzen AI 9 HX 370

As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, Zenbook S 16 has Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, a 12-core CPU that can go up to 5.1 GHz and runs at 28 watts. This processor offers better performance in default power mode, but performs slightly lower in performance mode, compared to the Snapdragon X Elite in the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16. While it loses out to the Core Ultra 9 185H in the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i, it outperforms the previous-gen Ryzen 7 8840HS in the Yoga 7 14 by a significant margin.

PCMark 10 testing shows that AMD outperforms all its competitors in light tasks across the system. Here, AMD wins against every product it’s in direct competition with, from the Core Ultra 9 185 H in the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra to the Ryzen 7 8840Hs in the Lenovo Yoga 7 14. According to the information shared; Instead of aiming for peak performance, this chip reveals its real value in graphics and battery life.

RDNA 3.5 GPU

Although it is not a gaming laptop, the device’s RDNA 3.5 GPU stands out. AMD offers the Radeon 890M with this chip. In the 3DMark Time Spy performance test, you get almost twice the performance with this chip compared to the Snapdragon X Elite in the HP Omnibook X. Likewise, there is competitive performance with the Core Ultra 7 155H in the Zenbook Duo.

The current 3DMark test Steel Nomad Light also reveals AMD’s high performance. Although the MacBook Air M3 is slightly faster; Intel and Qualcomm cannot get ahead in the competition. In addition, AMD manages to beat the last generation Ryzen 7 8840HS in the Lenovo Yoga 7 14. This shows us the difference made by the RDNA 3.5 update.

NPU

The Ryzen AI HX 370 gives us our first taste of AMD’s XDNA 2 neural processing unit NPU. This is the fastest NPU we’ve ever seen. While Qualcomm and Intel claim NPUs of 45 TOPS, AMD is pushing up to 50 TOPS. Beyond TOPS, the real issue here is the Block FP16 instruction type. AMD comes up with the first NPU that supports this command. This is especially important for those doing research on Hugging Face or Github for artificial intelligence models and applications.