AMD clarifies the differences between the Ryzen 1 series and the 7040U series

Previously, AMD had released the Ryzen Z1 series APU specifically for handheld gaming devices and confirmed a partnership with ASUS; the ROG Ally handheld console would be the first device to feature this chip. However, even earlier, gamers had deduced from the information released about the ROG Ally handheld console that the Ryzen Z1 series was strikingly similar to the Ryzen 7040U series.

Although AMD did not provide specific frequencies for the Ryzen Z1 series, at least on paper, they are essentially the same as the Ryzen 7040U series. To many, the Ryzen Z1 Extreme appears to be a rebranded Ryzen 7 7840U, with the only difference being the power consumption range and configurable TDP adjusted from 15W-30W to 9W-30W. To clarify the exact differences between the Ryzen Z1 series and the Ryzen 7040U series, TomsHardware specifically inquired with AMD, who provided a response.

AMD’s Customer PR Manager, Matthew Hurwitz, stated:

“The Ryzen Z1 series are purpose-built with handheld gaming in mind. To accomplish this, AMD engineers had to validate entirely new power ranges and optimize the voltage curves specifically for this use case – this optimization and validation work should not be trivialized. So while the technology building blocks (like ‘Zen4’ and RDNA 3) are similar between the 7040 and Z1 series, the resulting models have very distinct characteristics customized for their use cases. In addition, the AMD Ryzen AI engine is not available on AMD Ryzen Z1 series processors.”

AMD subsequently further confirmed that the XDNA AI engine is disabled on the Ryzen Z1 series, meaning it is blocked rather than the module being removed.