A (temporary) hands-on with RDNA 3 cellular

Final week, AMD introduced its upcoming Ryzen 7000 mobile CPUs and RDNA 3 laptop GPUs, and we acquired some very temporary hands-on time with them. Effectively, okay — hands-on time is a stretch. I used to be in a position to play one particular title on one particular all-AMD system within the firm’s demo space at CES 2023 final week. However that does a minimum of verify that these chips are actual and useful on this yr’s gaming laptops.

The corporate had plenty of upcoming laptops from companions on show on the present, together with among the most anticipated fashions from Asus and Alienware that we lined over the course of final week. Most of them had been working movies that confirmed off the laptops’ shows however didn’t clue us in about how the chips inside may carry out.

However there was one — precisely one — laptop computer working a sport you could possibly really play. That was the Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition, certainly one of not-too-many 2023 gaming laptops which have been confirmed to be AMD-only (that’s, working each an AMD CPU and an AMD GPU). This technique is predicted to be accessible in Q1.

The TUF on show was, based on AMD’s signage, rocking a Ryzen 9 7940HS processor and a Radeon RX 7700S graphics card. The 7940HS has eight cores and 16 threads and is constructed on AMD’s Zen 4 structure. It’s not to be confused with the Ryzen 9 7945HX (additionally Zen 4), the monstrous 16-core chip that leads the Ryzen 7000 line. (I requested AMD if I might strive that one, however they didn’t have any of its programs available.) The 7700S is tailor-made for skinny and light-weight units (the M-series is what you’ll discover in beefier fare this yr), providing 32 teraflops of efficiency with 8GB of GDDR6 reminiscence.

The one and solely sport working on this technique in AMD’s demo space was Sackboy. I don’t actually know methods to play this sport, nevertheless it appears to contain numerous amassing cash and working away from (very cute) monsters who’re making an attempt to destroy you.

After all, what AMD had on show was a preproduction pattern, so there weren’t framerates displayed (and if there had been, I wouldn’t have the ability to share them). The one remark I can take away from my temporary enjoying time was: Sackboy was working. It seemed to be working properly. Jumps and turns had been easy, and Sackboy responded to my faucets of the PS5 controller as shortly as I’d’ve anticipated. I loved enjoying the sport and wasn’t apprehensive about technological limitations.

Now, Sackboy (whereas it does have ray tracing) will not be a title we’d anticipate to be significantly difficult for the {hardware} on this laptop computer. (“Is that this a CPU-heavy or GPU-heavy title?” I requested the AMD representatives who had been on web site. “It’s not a heavy title,” they replied.) It was working at 1920 x 1200 decision. This laptop computer could have a QHD 240Hz choice as properly, and I’d anticipate that system to be the actual take a look at of AMD’s prime {hardware} this season. This specific system is much from a complete have a look at both of those AMD chips and their limitations.

If you happen to’d wish to know extra details about the TUF Gaming A16, Asus described it as “a smooth gaming laptop computer constructed to demolish the competitors.” It helps AMD’s Good Entry Graphics, which permits Radeon GPUs to regulate a system’s show immediately, and has a MUX swap. It’s set to be accessible in Q1 of 2023.

AMD has promised that the 7700S can run Cyberpunk 2077 at 87fps, Tomb Raider at 142fps, and Demise Stranding at 147fps with most settings. Considerably unhelpfully, these assessments had been all carried out in 1080p, whereas lots of the associate laptops the corporate featured in its keynote will supply QHD screens. We’ll must see for ourselves simply how properly these chips can make the most of these shows.

All these caveats apart, attending to check out these chips — even on such a lightweight raise — acquired me excited. I’m very a lot wanting ahead to seeing them in a laptop computer that’s able to hit cabinets and see if the claims AMD’s making about CPU and GPU efficiency pan out. AMD merely supposed for this demonstration to be a pleasant teaser of what’s to return, and my time with the A16 Benefit Version definitely completed that. These are actual chips that may run an actual sport, and that’s all we’re going to get for now.

Pictures by Monica Chin / The Verge