Copilot on a budget: AMD’s Krackan Point APUs to debut in budget-friendly ECS laptop

Something to look forward to: Since AMD introduced its Ryzen 9000 series and Strix Point Ryzen AI processors, users were looking forward to other members of the Zen 5 family, such as Ryzen AI Max and Fire Range. Now ECS has become the first manufacturer to confirm plans to introduce a product with AMD Krackan Point processors aimed at the mass market at CES 2025.

ECS is set to show off the first laptop with AMD’s upcoming Krackan Point APUs at CES 2025. AMD has already confirmed that the Krackan Point is designed as a low-cost entry point into the Microsoft Copilot+ standard for PCs, allowing it to compete with Intel’s Lunar Lake Core processor. Ultra 200V series.

The processor of the ECS UP42KP laptop is most likely the Ryzen AI 7 350. The manufacturer’s description matches the rumored specs of this chip, which include four Zen 5 cores, four Zen 5c cores, an integrated GPU with eight RDNA 3.5 compute units and an XDNA 2 NPU supporting 40 TOP, which corresponds to the threshold required for a co-pilot.

With a TDP ranging from 15W to 54W, this 14-inch 1080p laptop supports DDR5-5600 RAM, 16 PCIe lanes, Wi-Fi 6, HDMI 2.1 and USB 4. It also supports Windows Hello via an IR camera with protection curtain. . While the release date and pricing details remain unclear, AMD is aiming for Krackan Point devices to retail for under $800.

The Ryzen AI 7 350 is the most powerful Krackan Point APU announced so far, but a lower-end version of the AI ​​5 340 has been spotted on it. Geekbench in November last year. This cheaper option will retain the performance of the AI ​​7 350 NPU, but will have three Zen 5 cores, three Zen 5c cores, and a Radeon 840M iGPU with four RDNA 3.5 CUs.

The Krackan Point sits just below the Strix Point in AMD’s Zen 5 lineup. Since their debut late last year, Strix Point APUs like the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 have begun appearing in the latest portable gaming PCs. Lenovo is expected to introduce a device with Z2 Extreme option at CES.

With 16 Zen 5 cores and 40 RDNA 3.5 processors, Ryzen AI Max is the next step forward. An engineering reference sample was recently tested. spotted runs on the new high-end 2-in-1 laptop from Asus.

Users are also eagerly awaiting the launch of AMD Fire Range, the company’s most powerful Zen 5 laptop processors. Recent AI benchmark on Geekbench offers they will debut in Asus’ 2025 ROG Strix G series laptops.

In the desktop sector, AMD is also set to introduce new Ryzen 9000 X3D processors this month. TechSpot recently named last year’s 9800X3D the best gaming processor. was ahead all of its non-X3D counterparts are sold at Mindfactory.

The new ECS Krackan Point laptop will be accompanied new Snapdragon X Plus laptop, mini PC and new Intel motherboards.