AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop guide
Everything we know about the AMD Ryzen 7040U series of laptop APUs with Radeon 780M iGPU
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The AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop release date could finally be upon us! After much waiting and delays, AMD have revealed the specs of four new APU/CPU SKUs in the series, and though we don’t know exactly when we’ll first see laptops released with these chips equipped, it can’t be too far off.
When they do come out, we’ll be listing the best AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptops here for your delectation. Until then, read below for all the details that we’re aware of.
What is the AMD Ryzen 7040U series?
The AMD Ryzen 7040 series are are all members of the ‘Phoenix line’ of CPUs – not the most powerful in terms of CPU power (this is Dragon Range of laptop CPUs), but those with the most powerful onboard graphics. Supposedly the most powerful of these APUs (AMD CPUs with powerful integrated graphics) are meant to be able to compete with Nvidia RTX 3060 dedicated graphics cards in terms of performance.
The letter at the end of the codename of each of these APUs determines the level of power draw, and therefore processing power, that they have. The U-series are the mid-range of the Phoenix line, with a TDP of 15-30 Watts. These processors are targeted at creatives with slimline laptops who nevertheless want a bit of graphical processing power, and which even can do a bit of light gaming.
Read our AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptop guide for more information.
AMD Ryzen 7040U series release date
We originally though we’d see AMD’s Phoenix-based Ryzen 7040U series near the beginning of Q2 – some time in April perhaps, however AMD hasn’t really released any further info on them at all (since their reveal in January) until recently.
Though we don’t yet have a definitive release date from the Red Team, this recent unveiling makes us think we’ll very likely see them hit the shelves within the month of May.
AMD Ryzen 7040U series specs
The following SKUs were revealed for the Ryzen 7040U series:
- AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
- AMD Ryzen 5 7640U
- AMD Ryzen 5 7540U
- AMD Ryzen 3 7440U
Each chip comes with the same Radeon 780M iGPU (integrated GPU) based on RDNA3 architecture.
Both the Ryzen 5 7640U and Ryzen 7 7840U have been seen in the recently revealed Asus ROG Ally handheld gaming platform, under the alias of the AMD Ryzen Z1 and AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme respectively.
These top two SKUs also come with a dedicated AI chip, which doesn’t have many immediate applications at the present time, but will be useful for those working with Microsoft Studio Effects in the future, as well as in various other future applications.
AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop performance
Below are performance graphs supplied by AMD themselves that compare the most powerful in the range – the Ryzen 7 7840U – with the Intel Core i7-1360p CPU with integrated graphics.
According to AMD’s claims, the Ryzen 7 7840U is 29% – 128% faster than the Intel chipset, and 5% – 75% faster than the Apple M2.
AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop FAQs
What architecture is the Ryzen 7040U series based on?
The AMD Ryzen 7040U series of laptop APUs are all based on Zen 4 architecture, built using a 5nm process.
How powerful is the Radeon 780M iGPU?
Although proper independent testing has yet to take place, it’s though that the 780M iGPU could be around as powerful as an RTX 3060 laptop graphics card.
Best AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop : Final Word
We hope that this AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptop APU guide has proven sufficiently illuminating. As state, we will be listing and reviewing the best AMD Ryzen 7040U series laptops as soon as they come out on this very page, so stay tuned!
